Bruce Springsteen stars in 2021 Super Bowl commercial for Jeep

Bruce Springsteen encourages Americans to meet “in the middle” during a Super Bowl LV commercial for Jeep – his very first appearance in an advertisement.

The iconic musician, known as “The Boss”, performs and narrates the two-minute scenic ad, which features much more Americana and scenery than jeeps. The only vehicles in the ad are a 1980 Jeep CJ-5 and a 1965 Willys Jeep CJ-5. Both models are predecessors to the brand’s current Wrangler SUV.

During “The Middle”, Springsteen talks about a chapel located in the center of the country called the US Center Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas. He uses the very small chapel as a base to talk about the country that needs to “meet here in the middle” before the announcement ends with “In the United States of America”. Next is a website and logos for Jeep, which turns 80^e anniversary in 2021.

“It’s no secret … The middle has been a hard place to get to lately. Between red and blue. Between servant and citizen. Between our freedom and our fear,” Springsteen said. “Now fear has never been the best of who we are. And as for freedom, it is not the property of a privileged few; it belongs to all of us.

The ad is reminiscent of the old Super Bowl commercials of Olivier Francois, marketing director of Jeep’s parent company, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler). Specifically, a 2013 Super Bowl commercial titled “Farmer” which featured the voice of iconic broadcaster Paul Harvey and another semi-political commercial featuring Clint Eastwood titled “It’s Halftime in America” ​​in 2012. Les two were pro-country stage commercials with little actual vehicles.

“He is absolutely destined to be a successor,” Francois told CNBC. “It’s our style. It’s our language. It’s our approach to the Super Bowl. We were really trying to achieve a little bit of what we achieved in these other commercials, which is really relevance and meaning and something. thing that’s really going to tap into the moment. “

Speed ​​and relevance are the pillars of François’ advertising style. He is also known to have chosen A-list celebrities who are not usually associated with advertising in unconventional ads. Past Super Bowl commercials have included Detroit rapper Eminem, musician Bob Dylan as well as a voiceover from Oprah Winfrey. Last year, Francois convinced elusive actor Bill Murray to reprise his role from the 1993 film “Groundhog Day” for a Super Bowl commercial.

A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on how much the advertising cost, including fees for Springsteen, who is not known to have appeared in the ads but who lent her voice to a campaign ad. last year for Joe Biden.

Francois said Springsteen was intimately involved in the creation of the ad and worked closely with director Thom Zimny. He wrote and produced the original score for the commercial with another of his frequent collaborators, Ron Aniello.

“Olivier François and I have been discussing ideas for 10 years and when he showed us the outline of ‘The Middle’ our immediate reaction was, ‘Let’s do it’,” said Springsteen director Jon Landau, in a press release. “Our goal was to do something surprising, relevant, immediate and clever. I believe that’s exactly what Bruce did with ‘The Middle’.”

The ad was created in partnership with Michigan-based agency Doner. The spot was shot over five days in late January in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska.