Bruce Springsteen played and narrated a two-minute Super Bowl ad for the Jeep, which featured far more American and scenery than any vehicle.
Rob DeMartin for the Jeep
The Super Bowl Jeep commercial, starring Bruce Springsteen, has been in production for a decade, according to Olivier Francois, a car marketing director who became well known for convincing A-list stars to appear in such commercials.
Every year since 2011, Francois said he presented an idea to Springsteen manager Jon Landau for a Super Bowl commercial. It has become somewhat of a tradition, although Francois believed that there was little or no chance of it happening.
Why Springsteen, who had never appeared in an advertisement? It dates back to the carmaker’s former CEO Sergio Marchionne, who died unexpectedly in 2018. The Italian-Canadian businessman was a fan of the singer and regularly used his music during presentations and events, linking Springsteen’s personality to company.
“What you see today is really a 10-year story,” Francois told CNBC. “We started talking about Bruce – about Bruce, not with him, about – with my old boss, Sergio … He loved Bruce Springsteen’s music.”
Francois, marketing director of Jeep’s parent company, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler), persuaded Detroit rapper Eminem and musician Bob Dylan to play in the company’s commercials. He even landed Oprah Winfrey for a voiceover. Last year, Francois persuaded evasive actor Bill Murray to reprise his role in the 1993 film Groundhog Day for a Super Bowl commercial.
He said his “biggest regret” was not being able to advertise with Springsteen while Marchionne was alive. “My biggest regret today is that they never managed to meet. I always promised them that I would make something happen and I delivered a little too late,” Francois said.
Why now?
Francois first released Springsteen in a 2012 Super Bowl commercial called “It’s Halftime in America,” which eventually landed with actor Clint Eastwood, who is another celebrity not known for appearing in commercials or to attach to a product or company. The announcement featured Eastwood as the nation’s coach, urging the United States to learn from the resurgence of the Detroit auto industry.
Francois called this year’s announcement the “successor” to that ad, as well as others, such as a 2013 Super Bowl spot called “Farmer.” Both were pro-country movie commercials, with a few real vehicles.
In this year’s “The Middle” commercial, Springsteen drives an old Jeep and talks about a chapel in the center of the country called the US Center Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas. He used the extremely small chapel as a base to talk about the country that is to “meet here in the middle,” before the announcement ends with “Towards the United States of America.” This was followed by a website and logos for Jeep, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2021.
Bruce Springsteen (left) with Olivier Francois, marketing director of Stellantis, during the filming of the company’s Super Bowl LV commercial for Jeep.
Rob DeMartin for the Jeep
In a press release, Landau said as soon as they saw the land, they decided it was something they had to do.
Olivier Francois and I have been discussing ideas for the past 10 years, and when he showed us the sketch for “The Middle,” our immediate reaction was “Let’s do it,” he said. “Our goal was to do something surprising, relevant, immediate and ingenious. I think that’s what Bruce did with “The Middle.”
Francois believes the ad’s message was in line with Springsteen’s beliefs and found the “right balance” between the company’s goal and the singer, who last year told a campaign ad for Joe Biden.
Francois said Springsteen was intimately involved in creating the Jeep commercial and worked closely with director Thom Zimny. He wrote and produced the original score for the commercial with another frequent collaborator of his, Ron Aniello.
The announcement almost didn’t happen
The commercial with Springsteen almost didn’t happen, according to Francois. After 10 years since he was rejected by the singer’s manager, he decided not to present Landau with an idea for Springsteen.
“I think this is the first year we haven’t asked any agency to try to break an idea of Bruce Springsteen,” he said. “I think it took me 10 years to understand that it never happens. Obviously, I was wrong, but I thought so. And it was an abuse of John Landau’s and Bruce’s time.”
Bruce Springsteen played and narrated a two-minute Super Bowl ad for the Jeep, which featured far more American and scenery than any vehicle.
Rob DeMartin for the Jeep
That’s until Southfield, Michigan-based advertising agency Doner launched the idea for “The Middle.” After contacting Landau to say Happy New Year in early January, Francois decided to send the pitch to the advertising agency. Francois said Landau, upon receiving the field, thought it was “the right message.”
“Yes, take a stand, but take a stand for the middle,” Francois said. “It’s not liberal. It’s not Republican. It’s just something that tries to stand for non-politics. Common ground.”
The message seems to have resonated with the audience. Since it was posted on YouTube early Sunday morning, the ad has been viewed about 24 million times. That’s about four times the combined viewing of other Super Bowl car commercials from General Motors, Toyota Motor and online car salesman Vroom.