In the world of Super Bowl ads, Ram was a solid support act this year—but Jeep was the headliner. The company brought out the big guns to remind America what it loves most about its very own off-road brand.
Super Bowl ad time doesn’t come cheap, so you have to make a big splash to make it worthwhile. Jeep aimed to achieve that with the aid of Harrison Ford. The man behind Han Solo and Indiana Jones reminds us that life doesn’t come with an owner’s manual—and that it’s up to us to write our own stories.
It’s pure Americana from the drop. A wood cabin. A cup of coffee by a crackling fire. Jeeps parachuting into combat in the depths of World War II. “Freedom is for everybody, but it isn’t free,” says Ford. “It’s earned.”
The American flag waves as happy people wheel Jeeps under open skies. Engines roar and dust clouds billow behind the action. “We won’t always agree on which way to go,” says Ford. “But our differences can be our strength.”
It’s a comfortable, wholesome piece that wants to remind you of the good things in life. Family, friends, and adventure. Not so much in what it tells you, but what it shows you. People coming together, people having fun in the great outdoors. It just so happens that everyone’s driving a Jeep.
There’s also a nice little reminder of the fellowship at the heart of off-road culture. “You don’t have to be friends with someone to wave at ’em,” says Harrison, as he passes another rider on the trail.
The Jeep products are present, but by no means dominating the show. You’ll see the Wrangler, and the Recon, and a plug-in hybrid Wrangler 4xe. This isn’t Jeep trying to sell you a particular vehicle. They’re just trying to remind you of what they’re all about.
There’s also a little fun weaved in with the warm sincerity, too. “Freedom is the ability to inspire,” Harrison intones, as we see a Wrangler passing a Ford Bronco in the backwoods. “My friends, my family, my work makes me happy,” says Ford. “This Jeep makes me happy… even though my name is Ford.” He gives the camera a knowing look as his dog friend reacts to the playful nod to Blue Oval.
It’s chicken soup marketing, done to perfection. It comes at what has been a tough time for Stellantis. The company has had to deal with corporate upheaval, unpopular models, and a number of tricky recalls. Meanwhile, America itself has faced economic trials and uncertainty across the board.
And yet, in these tumultuous times, something like this reminds you how simple life can be when you let it. This year’s Super Bowl ad serves to remind us of what matters, not all the noise outside that doesn’t.
Image credits: Jeep
good commercial but I think there’s more than just coffee in his mug…at least he’s driving back roads
That was Bruce Springsteen IIRC
The ad was so obviously fiction. Not one ruber duck on any dashboard and all of the Jeeps seemed to be able to move under their own power.
I found Harrison Ford piloting a hunk of shit that can barely hold together to be very on brand. 5 stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrx24jofi0w
In my view, Stellantis would have been better off spending those millions on improving the reliability of Jeep products. Everybody already knows what a Jeep is, but a lot of folks have been turned away by their increasingly bad reputation for service problems.
“You don’t have to be friends with someone to wave at ’em”
I get the sense that this wasn’t about off-road culture specifically. I think it is about the raging arguments about ICE/Hybrid/PHEV going right now since it shows a PHEV and a Rubicon 392 passing each other.
Yes, but…how quickly will a Jeep do the Kessel Run?
Also, I didn’t watch the ad, but did any of the Wranglers exhibit a wobble of some sort?
There is no losing in this ad because the product is being endorsed by HAN FREAKIN’ SOLO!!!
He should have told the dog to “punch it, Chewie!” though.
Or “punch it, Chewy!” Cross-promotion!
It’s a good message. I don’t know how it sells their cars though.
Jeeps around me are the angriest looking, most overly aggressive and blindingly over-lit vehicles on the road. 99%chance that any asshat you see in the convenience store is getting into a Wrangler or a Ram. Not sure they are the kumbaya let’s all be friends kind of customers.
Maybe there is a market of fun-loving and friendly jeep people somewhere. I’d like to meet them.
They drive Jimnys.
Jeep people lie on the Angry Eyes/Rubber Duck spectrum.
Bring back the smiley face tire covers.
Wranglers around here are thick, but it’s almost all middle aged dads with DMB stickers (wait, that’s my demographic!) or the occasional lady trying a little too hard to defy stereotypes or something.
Yes, a solid 10%-20% have angry grills and easily half of them have aftermarket wheels/tires.
I’ve always been tempted, but I fear I’d go broke on mods that never get used. I’d probably be the only guy who buys a Rubicon and immediately says “First thing we do, we need a set of street tires and wheels because this is insane!” (no, really…driving around all day on M/T tires is nuts).
If there’s ever a group of SUV owners that masquerade as offroad more than offroad with completely impractical modifications.
The number of lifted Wranglers I see with largebock mud tires rolling around the winter tell me much – as they have virtually no traction as soon as the road is cold, let along if there’s ice/snow/slush on it.
I have been seen.
I don’t have a Jeep, but another brand that I lifted and put 35″ M/Ts on. I have to drive at LEAST an hour and a half to find a “trail” (just a state fire road, but not for Civics) on which to drive it. Granted, it isn’t a DD, but I am making the switch to A/Ts (today) that are 11.5 wide instead of 12.5. The reality is that these will better suit me, even if I have to take a hit to my perceived ego.
The best riding wrangler I ever rode in was an older 2 door with steelies and passenger truck tires on it. That thing was reasonably quiet enough to DD.
I mean from what I’ve seen reviews wise the new BFG KO3s perform better in the snow than the michelin crossclimates in the stock tire size for the Wrangler Sport at least.
The mods concern is a real one, I’m going with lockers front and rear, clear freedom panel, hard plastic floors, the works, but my Jeep will outwardly look mostly stock.
Just don’t judge the factory paint colors too hard, I got stuck with anvil grey because I had to buy a NOS 24 because 25s have a dealbreaker feature as standard.
I wish I could have gotten the 41 ODG, the Velocity (banana) yellow, or bikini blue (teal), instead of a grey car.
Good news is I know a great paint guy and I’ll probably have it bed coated in a nice lively color.
That all being said angry face Jeeps are cringe, I’m keeping my sport outwardly stock looking, and definitely not adding anything that makes it look aggressive.
My experience of that commercial was the dawning realization: Oh yes, that’s Harrison Ford, and oh no, he got so ooooooolllld!!! But the poke at the Bronco and the punchline at the end were well done.
Same here, I didn’t hear anything he said because my brain was trying to process how Harrison Ford got old.
He may not look like much, but he’s got it where it counts.
“Freedom isn’t free, but with our 120 month financing plans, it does have surprisingly affordable monthly payments.” I get that Madison Avenue patriotism is the entire point of both the Super Bowl and Jeep, but the Jeep ad is where I hit saturation point this year. The perpetual hammer of the “we’re unified, we’re unified, we’re unified, everything’s fine, right?” ads this year wore a bit thin, too. I’m in a town that has a lot of employment from federal dollars and after watching everyone who is a woman, minority, or vaguely wants to improve the world get fired, put on leave, or lose their contracts/funding in Elon’s purge this week, having Harrison tell us that we can all follow different paths and wave at each other rubbed the wrong way. We’re actually not unified at all, so can we please just buy cars and watch football because they’re cars and football?
I recommend pairing above comment with My Goat Ate My Homework’s above, about angry Jeeps, and a nice gruyere.
I get that a super bowl ad is one of the most mass market things you can possibly do, but the reality distortion field around this is strong, strong, strong. Jeep is the premier brand for anger not as an emotion but as a way of life. It’s a loud, rolling monument to outrage and militarism as the predominant factor in your decision making.
Would a SPARTAN park in four spaces so no one dings the doors?
Would a FAMILY OF LONG RIFLES AND SIDEARMS be so bold as to drop their Chick-fil-A trash in the Lowe’s parking lot?
Would a 2ND AMENDMENT idle for 15 minutes in the drive through to get a peppermint frappucino?
Fuck you, that’s what! Aren’t you afraid of my THIN SLIVERS OF PLASTIC that add teeth and angry eyes to my JEEP?? FUCK YOU! We are united! One side being literal Nazis can’t tear us apart! We must accept each other! Unity! Or else!
Reading the text off a Nazi version of a Dr. Bronner’s bottle is not a good look.
This, so much. I listened to that commercial and thought about the money spent and got queasy.
You summed up my thoughts on this perfectly, only I think things really hit the saturation point during Snoop Dogg’s ‘stand up to hate’ commercial. Completely tone deaf and extra hilarious when you have the FOX broadcast doing stuff like giving Rupert Murdoch a shout-out during the broadcast.
At least he didn’t crash it.
No, that would be if they used Marina Sirtis.
Uh, can you be a little more “plane” about what you’re saying, Adrian?
Besides, he knows a few maneuvers!
“Hear me baby? Hold together.”
What I replied with in the youtube comment’s section for this ad.
You’ll never be able to have individual options a-la-carte. We don’t have that here in the UK even though the dealer business model is mostly build to order.
We had that in America in the 50’s and 60s. You want a blue Ford Mustang with a red interior? Check those boxes and go crazy. Now it’s all boring option packages.
They did do that, and they didn’t make as much money. Now they can fill dealer lots and people will just pay the extra 1-2k more for the features already installed because they just want that vehicle. Why wait 6 months when I can get one for a little more today?
On the opposite end, Porsche and Rolls Royce will still let you do any crazy stuff you want, as long as you can pay for it.
“Freedom of Choice has a price, you know” said in a British or German accent is how I imagine the dealer experience goes when spec’ing out one’s dream car.
We had it back in the day in the US. If Jeep charged enough of a markup they can make an economic case for it. Call it Jeep Custom, use off the shelf components, and charge a massive markup for it.
Well, sophisticated it ain’t..
Did you just really drop a “tumultuous”?
Good grief. Everything is fine, Even Jeep, of all brands, gets the assignment. It’s totally proper to want to be the best again. For real, this time.
I question your definition of “fine,” and, by extension, your morality.
I’ll grant it’s “totally proper to want to be the best.” But how you get there matters. If your version of “best” demonizes and oppresses the less fortunate and requires everyone who doesn’t agree with you to lose? That’s fucked up.
“Tumultuous” is a perfectly appropriate word.
Did you just write that you question my morality?
Cool, man. Cool.
Imagine wanting to have the best house on the street, so you start off by ripping out the walls, the carpet, the appliances and most of the plumbing. You sell off most of the wiring and even strip the grass to sell to your friend for cheap. You call every contractor and then complaining their prices are too high and you’ll just “fix it yourself” without having the ability to shop at a local hardware store or knowing how to use a hammer.
That’s the situation we find ourselves in. Good luck building the “best house”.
Gerald Ford’s daughter, Susan, was used in ads for Subaru in the 70s. “A Ford drives a Subaru.”
Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual. And it doesn’t give you any hydrospanners either.
“This Jeep makes me happy”.
Note how the Jeep has the doors off and top rolled back, while the Bronco doesn’t even have a window cracked open? That’s a huge contrast. Point made.
This whole ad is a master class of image building in advertising, and will be a huge impact, just like “Imported from Detroit”. It presses so hard it borders on self-parody, but I think they pulled it off.
I hope Stellantis is able to ride this to better things more competently than they did the IfD ads.
I thought the Jeep ad was mostly word salad. There were a few good lines, however.
The RAM ad was a lot more entertaining, especially with the three bears showing up at the end.
Yeah, it felt like one of those propaganda newsreels from the 30s or 40s that told people everything was fine.
I kept waiting to see Kevin Bacon in a ROTC uniform flattened by a stampeding crowd.
Kevin Bacon was in a commercial, but it failed because I have no idea what they were selling 12 hours later.
Maybe we need a few of those. Amazed DOGE hasn’t managed to purge this yet: https://youtu.be/vGAqYNFQdZ4?feature=shared
Should have gotten Kevin Spacey for this. #LetMeBeFrank
Sure, Han Solo and Indiana Jones are classic Harrison Ford roles, but I’d like to think he was channeling a little Bob Falfa while making this commercial.
The best line in that ad is “heroes aren’t driven by pride…pride is a terrible driver.”
This ad was absolute perfection. You’ve got the patriotism, the momentary glimpse of the future vehicle, the flashbacks. You’ve got Harrsion Ford saying “even though my name is Ford.” Good little cross-town fun. Wonderful. Jeep needs to build up their branding and I think this ad really didn’t hurt.