Very moving Jeep Superbowl commercial with Bruce Springsteen

The Middle

How They Got Him To Do It

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"Success isn't about how much money you make. It is about the difference you make in people's lives."--Michelle Obama

Thanks for the links. I'm getting tired of Uplifting Commercials but this one is excellent.

It's done like a positive feel-good spot but it is in fact a denouncement of the Trump years. I think Jeep should get credit for coming down strong on the side of putting Trump behind us and getting back to what really matters.

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That's an important message.

As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

Yes. That's what Bruce Springsteen would believe. Exactly that.

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vision63

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

Yes. That's what Bruce Springsteen would believe. Exactly that.

I’m sure he didn’t direct the ad. Jeep commercial <> Bruce Springsteen.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

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rjmacs

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vision63

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

Yes. That's what Bruce Springsteen would believe. Exactly that.

I’m sure he didn’t direct the ad. Jeep commercial <> Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce is far from being a dummy. We've seen him operate politically for decades now. He's always been on point with his time and his money. Nobody is tricking him into anything.

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vision63

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rjmacs

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vision63

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

Yes. That's what Bruce Springsteen would believe. Exactly that.

I’m sure he didn’t direct the ad. Jeep commercial <> Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce is far from being a dummy. We've seen him operate politically for decades now. He's always been on point with his time and his money. Nobody is tricking him into anything.

Well, not everyone saw the ad the same way you did. Love you, vision63.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

From the link graylocks posted:

“He spent 12 hours on site. He was totally hands-on about the editing. He was very, very, very active with the editing and the process,” says Francois. “He knew what he wanted, and he got what he wanted.”

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rjmacs

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vision63

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rjmacs

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vision63

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

Yes. That's what Bruce Springsteen would believe. Exactly that.

I’m sure he didn’t direct the ad. Jeep commercial <> Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce is far from being a dummy. We've seen him operate politically for decades now. He's always been on point with his time and his money. Nobody is tricking him into anything.

Well, not everyone saw the ad the same way you did. Love you, vision63.

I love you too! People should question their perspectives. My mother called me all kinds of names. Cussed and fussed. Even beat my butt when I was really bad. On the surface, I should hate her. But I knew her. I knew her mind. Like I know Bruce's. I worshipped my mother and still do.

The spot is for the kind of people who would potentially buy a Jeep. They aren't rural Christians but they do want the last four years to disappear, and this romanticizes that notion as being like a Bruce song and not like a pipe dream.

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5mil for commercial to the Boss

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

I noticed that too, but that's the choir he's preaching to. If this ad brings the right-leaning demographic closer into the middle, is that a bad thing?

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Janit

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

I noticed that too, but that's the choir he's preaching to. If this ad brings the right-leaning demographic closer into the middle, is that a bad thing?

Nope - what bugged me much more than the ad was the pretense from lots of commentators that it was aimed at all of America, and that it represented the idea of a united country.

Also, if a Jeep ad can bring right-leaning people closer to the middle, can we please hire that ad agency to work for the government?

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

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rjmacs

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Janit

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rjmacs
As long as you’re a Christian, rural person.

I noticed that too, but that's the choir he's preaching to. If this ad brings the right-leaning demographic closer into the middle, is that a bad thing?

Nope - what bugged me much more than the ad was the pretense from lots of commentators that it was aimed at all of America, and that it represented the idea of a united country.

Also, if a Jeep ad can bring right-leaning people closer to the middle, can we please hire that ad agency to work for the government?

Right?

I'm just confused by this ad and as usual I'm going to badly overthink it.

The visuals don't match Bruce's narration. Since when is white Christian rural Kansas "the middle" politically? You can't get much more extreme right than that. With all the crosses and white people and farms I thought I was watching an RNC convention warm up video.

This doesn't look or feel like America to me, and I'm not sure who this is supposed to entice to buy a Jeep.

Bruce was maybe saying we needed white working class people from the midwest to come back and vote Dem so that Biden could win, but is that "reuniting the country?"

First of all, we can dispense with the idea that they're trying to sell Jeeps in the ad. They are not. It's branding designed to increase public awareness that they exist as most branding is. If they were "selling" Jeeps, they'd literally show off a model. Matthew McConaughey participated in a hybrid branding campaign with Lincoln that in addition sold the vehicle that he was driving. Jeep didn't do that here.

There's a threatening aspect to this ad. It was designed to do this. Everybody has their definition of what America is and isn't. It's all rooted in group-think. That's how we are now. Both sides are wrong. Each side has fringes and they feel the most threatened. The right fringe has taken that entire side over. This is an effort to wrestle it away from them, It ain't about "us." The left fringe is just loud. Me Me Me.

Ultimately this is all on Bruce Springsteen. You either trust him or you don't. If you feel threatened, he's stupid. If you don't he's perhaps wise.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2021 01:06PM by vision63.

The aspect of this that people are (apparently) not connecting the dots with is the Springsteen oeuvre, and his sparse, often at-odds-with-itself lyrical yarns that are not quite what they seem.

Well, it's a commercial. Commerce. Selling. Maybe they are trying to brand themselves but the ultimate goal is still to sell Jeeps. People are getting too used to believing that "branding" is some kind of end in itself but it is not. It's meant to lead to purchases or they wouldn't bother with it.

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I have no reason to question what Springsteen would like to see happen for America. On this, his/their message is plain, but also open to interpretation like a song.

For me, it’s Rodney King’s famous lament about getting along. That’s not acquiescence but it’s not forgiveness, either.

Or I could be mistaken and Jeep will reintroduce the CJ, although I cannot fathom riding in one in a Kansas winter, especially without a roof and doors. Even when buttoned up and the heater going, in those things you’re really only headed to the nearest mechanic.

Whoa! Tough room!

Springsteen released a documentary last year in which he read passages that sound very similar in tone to the script of this of this ad. when i watched the documentary I did think the passages sounded a bit tortured. Like he was trying a bit too hard to cement what he believes his legacy to be. This ad, as much as i really like and welcome it, has hints of that "I will define me for history" bent also.

Ain't considering buying a jeep though until they have an EV.

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"Success isn't about how much money you make. It is about the difference you make in people's lives."--Michelle Obama



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2021 02:48PM by graylocks.

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deckeda
For me, it’s Rodney King’s famous lament about getting along. That’s not acquiescence but it’s not forgiveness, either.

People often forget that Rodney King's plea wasn't a lament, but an urgent entreaty to the people of Los Angeles, in the midst of intense violence and ongoing physical destruction of his community, not to continue causing damage on his behalf. He wanted to stop seeing his world burn before his eyes.

It was not a reflective, considered statement about what happened to him, nor a representation of his eventual thoughts and feelings on the subject. It became a catch-phrase and, sadly, a caricature of a complicated man who had complex feelings about his plight and the subsequent results for his community.

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

That was Springsteen? I had no idea that was him or that I was witnessing some sort of profound art. I spent the entire commercial just trying to guess which automobile brand it was going to hawk.

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deckeda
Or I could be mistaken and Jeep will reintroduce the CJ, ... in those things you’re really only headed to the nearest mechanic.

On another note, Michigan folks are a little cranky because the map in the commercial excludes Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

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rjmacs

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deckeda
For me, it’s Rodney King’s famous lament about getting along. That’s not acquiescence but it’s not forgiveness, either.

People often forget that Rodney King's plea wasn't a lament, but an urgent entreaty to the people of Los Angeles, in the midst of intense violence and ongoing physical destruction of his community, not to continue causing damage on his behalf. He wanted to stop seeing his world burn before his eyes.

It was not a reflective, considered statement about what happened to him, nor a representation of his eventual thoughts and feelings on the subject. It became a catch-phrase and, sadly, a caricature of a complicated man who had complex feelings about his plight and the subsequent results for his community.

Nah. “Can we all get along?” became a catchphrase because in the context of his May1, 1992 televised speech it was the functional equivalent of why-can’t-we get along. He was very definitely reacting to the riots. It wasn’t a theoretical exercise.

I get the general sentiment he is trying to evoke - let's get away from the extremes - but I don't like that the imagery used paints the middle as being a chapel. As he intones the words "come meet here in the middle" the imagery is focused on a Christian cross with an American flag in the shape of the country as a backdrop to the cross. To me, all that does is reinforce the idea that the "real" America is a Christian America. Blech.

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e pluribus unum



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2021 09:28PM by Ted King.

Springsteen is way too identified as a supporter of Democrats to be seen as a unifier by anyone that commercial might hope to reach.

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RgrF
Springsteen is way too identified as a supporter of Democrats to be seen as a unifier by anyone that commercial might hope to reach.

I think the ad agency that made this was thinking
1. Bruce represents the Left. And all who know the man and his music know he's left.
2. Small town rural Kansas is RIght, especially the Evangelicals

3. So put them together and suggest they both need to move to the center. Feel all cozy amd American and go buy a jeep.

Its oversimplified and either oblivious to Christian nationalist symbolism, or promoting it. I suspect the former. I doubt anyone involved in making this ad has spent much time in Kansas.

This ad was made before Jan. 6. They should have pulled it or revised it. And I'm sorry that Bruce let his celebrity amd cultural significance get weakened like this. He's lost some fans and a lot of respect.

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Lemon Drop

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RgrF
Springsteen is way too identified as a supporter of Democrats to be seen as a unifier by anyone that commercial might hope to reach.

I think the ad agency that made this was thinking
1. Bruce represents the Left. And all who know the man and his music know he's left.
2. Small town rural Kansas is RIght, especially the Evangelicals

3. So put them together and suggest they both need to move to the center. Feel all cozy amd American and go buy a jeep.

Its oversimplified and either oblivious to Christian nationalist symbolism, or promoting it. I suspect the former. I doubt anyone involved in making this ad has spent much time in Kansas.

This ad was made before Jan. 6. They should have pulled it or revised it. And I'm sorry that Bruce let his celebrity amd cultural significance get weakened like this. He's lost some fans and a lot of respect.

He didn't lose a single "fan." Maybe some customers. Who knows what he's gained?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2021 11:18AM by vision63.

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Ted King
I get the general sentiment he is trying to evoke - let's get away from the extremes - but I don't like that the imagery used paints the middle as being a chapel. As he intones the words "come meet here in the middle" the imagery is focused on a Christian cross with an American flag in the shape of the country as a backdrop to the cross. To me, all that does is reinforce the idea that the "real" America is a Christian America. Blech.

Bingo, nailed it!

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