The legendary Bruce Springsteen is a lot of things to a lot of people, but never before had he been exactly the face of a marketing campaign. His music, yes, but not the man. But if you’re tuning in Super Bowl LV tonight, you will see a familiar face and you will know that Springsteen has partnered with Jeep.
The commercial is less commercial than a mini-movie, which would be expected of someone like Springsteen. After two minutes, this little clip is called “The Middle” and only includes two vehicles: 1980 Jeep CJ-5 and a 1965 Willys CJ-5 Jeep.
This is because it is not really an advertisement for a product it’s a petition for Americans to “meet in the middle”. Or basically giving up our partisan behaviors and offering us some compassion.
In the two-act commercial, Springsteen talks about a chapel in the center of the country, the US Center Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas. In a voiceover, he points out:“It’s not a secret. The center has been a hard place to get to lately. Between red and blue. Between server and citizen. Between our freedom and our fear. Now, fear has never been the best of us. And as for freedom, it is not the property of the lucky few; it belongs to us all. “
It ends with the slogan “In the United States of America” followed by the Jeep i website logo. You can watch the full clip below:
So why did “The Boss” agree to pursue advertising for the first time in his career? It’s the message behind it more than anything, and it wasn’t an easy deal for Springsteenager. In fact, he said, he only agreed to film the ad a few weeks ago Vanity Fair. Here is more information on the story:
Springsteen thought the concept would be very spiritual, he says [chief marketing officer of Stellantis Oliver] Francois. “He considered this a prayer,” and this performance played an important role in whether the musician would contribute one of his real songs to the piece, an idea Francois says was in fact under consideration. “If it’s a prayer, I didn’t want the music to distract me.” Springsteen chose to provide a score, with Francois requesting that the music end on an upbeat note after the artist’s voiceover ended.
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It is certainly an idea that will reach many people after one of the most chaotic election seasons in the United States (although I must admit that I find a bit of humor in the fact that this uplifting message has to be conveyed through the auspices of religion and capitalism).
And it’s definitely good for Jeep and Stellantis. Countless carmakers have come out of the Super Bowl, so we won’t have the ads we expect during the big game. If Jeep moves forward with the idea of Springsteen, the message will be a little more oomph in a void without ads.