Ah, it’s that time of year again. When brands from across the market invest millions of dollars just for the opportunity to showcase their products to hundreds of millions of people during the Super Bowl. For 2026, the average price for a 30-second spot during the Big Game costs about $8 million, with some slots going for $10 million or more, according to USA Today.
Jeep has paid for Super Bowl commercial slots numerous times in the past. Back in 2018, it paid for three separate slots, hiring different ad agencies to make three very different commercials. In 2020, it hired Bill Murray to reprise his role as Phil Connors from the movie Groundhog Day to promote the Gladiator. And just last year, it got Harrison Ford to star in a very patriotic advert for the Wrangler. But those are just a few examples.
This year, Jeep is doing something different. The company has decided to put a bunch of effort into making a Super Bowl-level advertisement … that it won’t be airing the Super Bowl. Instead, the automaker is releasing the ad today in the lead-up to the event in an attempt to capitalize on the buzz. And it’s hoping journalists like me will help its cause.
Here’s Exactly What’s Going On
Usually, companies release their Super Bowl ads (either the full-length versions, shortened versions, or teasers) a week or so before they premiere during the Big Game. Because Jeep isn’t actually going to air its ad during the Super Bowl, it decided to host a preview meeting on Tuesday for media and journalists, hosted on Microsoft Teams, before the ad was released to the public this morning. The Autopian was invited to this preview, and I attended.
Before going any further, it’s probably best to show you the advert, just so you have an idea of what this is all about. Here it is:
Pretty fun, right? It definitely has the makings of a real Super Bowl ad, with a whole storyline involving a child’s dream to take his Big Mouth Billy Bass to the river it desires (it sings Take Me to the River by Al Green). It then goes from heartwarming to comical when the bass, which magically comes to life, gets torn to shreds by a grizzly bear before being scooped away by an eagle. Throughout, we’re shown gratuitous shots of the new 2026 Cherokee, and at the end of the ad, Jeep touts the crossover’s 140 driver-assistance features.
[Editor’s Note: Hold up here just a sec. I have to talk about this deeply weird ad a bit, because I think the reason Jeep didn’t drop $8 million for a slot is because someone realized that there’s no way this strange and weirdly grim ad is going to make anyone actually want a Jeep, right? Aside from the fact that a 2010 Toyota Camry could have done everything the Cherokee did in this ad, there’s larger issues at play here that make this ad oddly unsettling.
First of all, the dad was just cool with a plan to chuck an electronic novelty crap thing into a river? Isn’t that just… littering? And this kid, he’s old enough to know better, right? Like, how is he like 8 or 9 or 10 or whatever and not understand the difference between a talking toy and an actual, living being?
Well, the reason he may be confused brings us to the other aspect of this commercial. In the universe established by this ad, there seems to be real, sentient artificial life. This is especially trenchant now with our increasingly AI-dominated world, and based on what happens later in the ad, I think we can infer that this child’s reaction is because he has had exchanges with this talking robotic fish that would suggest the fish is a sentient, self-aware being with agency.
So, when they take the fish to the river and set it free, with its somehow water-resistant electronics, to them it really is like setting an animal they know and presumably have a relationship with free into the world. I think? The dad seems a little more flippant, so perhaps he doesn’t believe this fish is actually making a decision of its own free will?
But then when the bear grabs the fish and it screams in terror and pain, we’re presented with an even more horrifying concept: this robotic fish was, for some unfathomable reason, programmed to feel both terror and pain, and equipped, presumably, with sensors and systems to transmit agony. Why?
This was a novelty fish designed to hang on a wall and sing – what kind of miserable sadists would make it capable of not just feeling pain, but gave it a concept of its own mortality! The fish panics when it sees its own exposed wires, and feels relief to be left alive before the bird grabs it, whereupon it then reverts back to existential panic.
And what is the dad’s reaction to this being that has shared his home for years, now screaming out in pain and terror? He closes the sunroof to mask the plaintive cries for help, and drives away. Remember, this is a being with near human-level intelligence!
This commercial doesn’t make me want to buy a Jeep; it makes me feel a pit-of-my-gut sense of existential dread and question the fundamental nature of human compassion and its limits. That doesn’t sell Jeeps. It’s good they saved their money and didn’t subject the mass of America to this nightmare. – JT]
After Jeep showed us the ad under embargo, Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer for Jeep’s parent company, Stellantis, revealed to the room that it wouldn’t be occupying one of those multi-million-dollar slots sold by NBCUniversal:
“Before I start on the [advertisement] itself, let me state the obvious: This is not going to air in the Big Game,” he told journalists. “So that’s exactly why we are having this meeting. Normally, we just drop it quietly and let you watch it and tell us what you think. But we are not in the Big Game this year.”
Francois is well-known in the advertising space. He’s the marketing mind behind Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” ad featuring Eminem, its “Halftime in America” ad featuring Clint Eastwood, and its Chrysler 200 ad featuring Boby Dylan. Speaking to journalists later in the meeting, he revealed plainly Jeep’s strategy to lean on the media to help promote this year’s spot.
“We wanted to make a point,” Francois said. “We are here to sell something. And that’s what we do—fun with a purpose.”
“So this is really where you come in,” he added. “Obviously, since it’s not going to the Super Bowl, we need your help to create this alternative stage. We wanted to make sure that the work is seen, discussed, and judged on its merits. If there were a prize for the best Big Game commercial, that’s not in the big game, [this is] the one I would submit. The filming process was 100% Super Bowl.”
At The End Of The Day, It’s The Money That Matters
The reason why Jeep doesn’t want to actually buy a Super Bowl slot for this advertisement is, of course, due to cost.
“This year, you have seen what a 30-second Super Bowl costs, over $8 million,” Francois told journalists. “$8 million for 30 seconds. I’m looking at my friend and partner, Bob [Broderdorf, CEO of Jeep], here on the other side of the screen. I think, you know, it is probably not sensible at this level.”
Francois went on to say that Jeep’s Super Bowl commercials have always needed breathing room to make an impact, which usually means they’re two minutes long, rather than just 30 seconds (this new advert is 1 minute, 47 seconds long). With some simple math, that means putting this commercial in the Big Game would’ve cost Jeep nearly $30 million. Instead, the company says it’s going to use that money throughout the rest of the year.
“2026 is a special year for America,” says Francois. “It’s the 250th anniversary of the U.S., and you probably have noticed that Jeep is a proud partner of that celebration. So for us, the symbolic Super Bowl this year is not just that one Sunday, it is more July 4th.”
“And beyond that, it’s the entire year,” he continued. “So it’s a year-long story, a year-long presence, and a year-long investment. Which means that we decided we wouldn’t concentrate our creative energy, all the media weight, all our emotion into one single night. So our Super Bowl in 2026 is not one moment.”
This all leaves me a little bit conflicted, obviously. By writing about the ad, no matter the reason, I am inadvertently promoting it. However, I also feel it’s my duty to inform you of what’s really going on here and why you might see numerous other websites writing about Jeep’s advertisement this morning, as if they had received an embargo for the new Wrangler.
So if you’re wondering why you’re seeing a bunch of buzz around a Jeep Super Bowl commercial next week but didn’t actually see the ad premiere during the game, now you know why.
There’s A Fair Bit Of AI At Work Here
AI is a hot topic in the world of computer-generated animation right now. Whether you think it’s stealing jobs from real CG artists or opening up doors for new levels of unique products and creativity, Jeep wasn’t shy about admitting it used the tech to generate some aspects of the commercial—mainly the grizzly bear.
When asked which parts of the advert used AI, Nathan Monteith, executive creative director at Highdive Advertising, who was also on the call, revealed exactly how the bear came to life:
“Obviously, authenticity is everything,” he told journalists. “So Billy Bass is a plastic fish. We wanted to make sure we shot Billy practically, and we had him torn apart practically, pulled into pieces.
“But when it came, again, to authenticity, bears have a movement that, in the past, CG has suffered from actually capturing,” Monteith continued. “So we created the AI bear using a whole bunch of online data, of real bears, really eating fish, really, actually doing it. So we were able to bring that to life in a very realistic way.”
For what it’s worth, Monteith made sure to clarify that the Jeep Cherokee in the commercial was 100% not AI-generated:
“Of course, all the vehicle footage is real, because that’s what we want to do,” he said. “These vehicles need to show what they can do, and we need to film them that way.”
Top graphic images: Jeep; DepositPhotos.com
Bigger question is these new cherokees are at dealerships for sale and I’ve seen some around my town. Where’s the first drive article?
That would require a running and driving example.
Ouch. But accurate.
That commercial kinda started weird.
Then got all wonderful and happy.
Then went all horrific and sad
Then had an uncomfortable chuckle at the end while we silence what we don’t want to hear.
Is this commercial actually about Stellantis?
Thanks for the summary – sounds deeply weird.
But not going to help them earn money by clicking on their ad for engagement.
Whoever came up with the premise for that ad was definitely drinking far too much cough syrup the night before.
The entire bottle of cough syrup was *only* the chaser here, my friend.
And as we all know, Jeep and Stellantis is authentically one of the corniest, least reliable, overpriced, and worst built set of vehicles made this millennium. It is abundantly clear that they are in absolute crisis mode, using AI to fill in their ads of their make or break new product that they cant justify spending the money on a prime time ad for. The irony of authenticity with AI ads is completely lost on Jeep, but then again so is the concept of building good products.
Jesus flipping Christ on a stick, that ad is deranged and wonderful. Did Jeep steal some cocaine from RAM’s advertising department?
As a child of the 70s and 80s with plenty of TV viewing under my belt, I can safely say that in advertising, cocaine is always the answer.
I’m guessing that all the cocaine was fed to the AI bear.
cocaine bear
I thought someone put ayahuasca in my oatmeal but then I realized it’s just a big metaphor for the merger. Billy Bass is Carlos Tavares, the bear is the global car market, and the eagle represents investors.
The oddly dense kid must be the average American car buyer and the dad represents us – just watching the whole thing burn and shaking our heads.
I get it now.
Or, perhaps, the fish symbolizes Jeep buyers.
At very least, 4xe owners.
COTD material
I wonder when the NFL gets to trademark “the Big Game” so we all have to say “that football thing”.
And the hype of Super Bowl commercials has diminished for a while now. I don’t imagine companies see much return for their investment. This Jeep ad is as nonsensical as any Doritos ad, which is how it’s done, but it doesn’t give much attention to the vehicle itself, which isn’t a good car ad. Compare with that corny ad of Glen Powell fighting dragons in a Ram truck; the truck was a co-star.
Then I feel like a band from my hometown can sue.
They actually tried a couple of years ago to get “Big Game” trademarked, but one of the issues was that Stanford and Cal had been playing it (and calling it that) for about 80 years already, so no dice.
From the boring actual legal perspective, there is about a 99 percent chance it would fail regardless. “Big Game” is generic and that is a problem in trademark law. It could refer to any game of any kind with any importance to the group discussing it. Generic is the reason you can trademark Rollerblade, but you can’t trademark inline skate. Trademarks have to be unique and not use language that are just a description using common words in the language.
Basically, the NFL wanted to the own “The Big Game” in reference to the Super Bowl for the same reason that Taylor Swift trademarked her first name: to make sure other people couldn’t use it without their permission
To be clear, Taylor Swift does NOT hold a trademark to “Taylor”. She does hold multiple trademarks under her full name and some specific uses of the name Taylor as part of a phrase “Taylors version” etc. And she holds certain trademarks in very specific areas (retail bags, clothing, music product) of her last name or initials. And after reviewing a list of all her trademarks, she has a TON of trademarks that are highly contestable if anyone thinks there is enough money in picking the fight.
The “certain trademarks in very specific areas (retail bags, clothing, music product)” was my point.
You said she trademarked her first name. My point is that she hasn’t. Only her full name and exceptional uses of the letters TS.
They can’t. “The Big Game” refers to the UC Berkeley-Stanford football game, and has been used since 1902, decades before the creation of the NFL.
The NFL tried to take it for themselves in 2007 (in part so that other companies couldn’t refer to the Super Bowl generically as “the big game”) and gave up. In addition to pissing off two major universities with massive endowments and top-tier law schools, it also pissed off 18 of the NFL’s biggest advertisers.
They haven’t tried re-filing in the 18 years since.
Making a rough guess as to the email you and other automotive news sites received:
Dear [INSERT JOURNALIST HERE],
Your friends at Jeep have an exciting opportunity for you! We have made a Super Bowl Ad, except instead of releasing it at the Super Bowl, we’re going to release it in private to people like yourself.
So I guess it’s not really a Super Bowl Ad. It’s just an ad that happens to be kind of edgy, but it’s an exclusive ad that you get to see first! Until our embargo ends in 12 hours, but you got it first!
And let me tell you, it’s going to be awesome. Remember those talking bass things from 1998? We have finally written a joke about them! Nobody does that! I don’t want to spoil anything else, but it’s got a conclusion so silly… only eagle-eyed people can bear it! Eagle-eyed. Bear it.
Trust us. You’re gonna love this. And it’s going to make people buy Jeeps. I showed it to my intern last week and he said it made him want to buy “hella” Jeeps. Like seven Jeeps. Just because he saw this ad.
Anyway, we’ll see you on Zoom soon enough. Please remember to mute and don’t turn your camera on so that the ad runs smoothly.
Thanks in advance for running an article. Surely it will cover the wonderful, family-friendly features available on the Jeep Cherokee and not try to criticize the premise of an ad we all worked so hard on. (Giggle. I wrote “hard on”). Wait I should probably delete that before clicking send.
Wow. Just wow. I live for weird, but this ad feels like the company originally wanted someone like Tim Robinson involved to produce it, but then settled on my mother-in-law instead. This is absurd sketch made by people who don’t understand how to translate absurdity into comedy. It’s terrible.
Also, Stellantis trying to pull the “here’s our ad for the Super Bowl that’s not actually airing for the Super Bowl” is way, way funnier than the commercial itself. My lord Stellantis, you’re in the business of trying to convince people you’re a real company that isn’t on death’s doorstep. This is NOT the way to go about doing that.
It’s a shame, cause I really thought they had a fun ad up until the bear shows up.
In this case, we are NOT choosing the bear.
It is extremely tacky of Jeep to expect journalists to get their commercial Super Bowl levels of engagement without having to spend on a Super Bowl time slot. I appreciate The Autopian disclosing Stellantis’ plan and I now have even less respect for their brand.
It’s guerilla marketing! Or viral marketing! Or whatever term will let me use the effort of others for no cost to myself!
THINK OF THE SHAREHOLDERS
Sir, that is clearly a BEAR, not a gorilla.
I’ll show myself out now…
My hawk eye spotted something fishy about your comment. I can’t bear the pun I discovered.
Okay but is the new Cherokee actually any good? They haven’t given it to journalists yet and it’s technically been on sale for weeks. There are almost no reviews on it, just a couple of YouTube videos from car slop creators. The only “review” is a quick article from Motor Trend for their SUVOTY competition that is very unflattering…although Motor Trend is heavily biased towards EVs so I don’t take them too seriously.
This thing was announced months ago and has been on sale for a while now and yet no one has driven it. I think they should be worried more about that than commercials. Stellantis is uniquely bad at this too, the Charger Sixpack roll out was an abject disaster. The difference is the Cherokee has a lot going for it on paper, is from a popular brand, and is in the most popular class of cars.
If you want people to take it seriously send some to journalists already.
This post, admittedly, reminded me that the Cherokee is indeed coming back. I haven’ seen a single one, nor was I certain that it was coming any time soon.
*checks internet*
Holy shit, dealers have these in stock now? I’m a fucking weirdo who spends half his free time on a car blog and I had no idea. And dear lordy lord, the cheapest one they have is 42k? Is Stellantis hellbent on Hornet 2: Electric Boogaloo?
Are they actually on dealer lots, or are they just ‘in transit’, which is enough to be listed on their website nowadays?
The all claim to be in stock, and one of them has 30 pictures, clearly taken at that dealer. So they definitely have one, and possibly, 5.
This utterly blew my mind. I live in Toledo which is otherwise the epicenter of the entire Jeep universe and I haven’t seen even a single one.
What is even going on? Were the first few hundred examples lemons or something and they’re holding off on advertising it until they figure it out? This should be their single most important car of the entire year and they just crapped it out. Holy shit.
The whole ad made me feel like they were trying to both introduce the new Cherokee while also distracting everyone from how bland it is. Every part showing the vehicle itself could have been applied to any other blobby crossover in existence.
I actually think it’s more attractive and less anonymous than the average midsized crossover, but that’s subjective and the bar is low.
It’s possible the journos have reviewed them but actual reviews are on embargo while they got supply on the ground. If so I imagine that will lift soon now that there’s an ad campaign around it.
If these things are at dealers, the reviews can’t be under embargo.
Anyone who wants to review it can just stop by a dealership. Embargoes are for early access to vehicles not sitting at local retailers.
Anyone could sure. I don’t think they’re worried if “jeeph8r420” leaves a scathing Reddit review, but critical media outlets, I’d wager there’s a difference. Dunno how much weight ad dollars still carry in the digital age but they still juggle the press relations. Isn’t there a brand that’s withholding from the Autopian now because of some comment DT or someone made in a review?
Maybe there’s a more appropriate term in this instance, but all that to say, it’s not unusual to see cars to be on ground before reviews are, so I can’t really fault Jeep for that. Some brands may not want any media buzz without cars on the lots.
Jeep is trying to get publicity over a Superbowl ad that will not be airing during the game.
It’s safe to say they will take any publicity they can get – especially if it’s cheap / free.
I remember that Tesla wouldn’t send any cars for Top Gear to review after they did the review of the Roadster.
This is not sad and pathetic at all.
I was all about the absurdity of the ad until about the 1:25 mark when the AI bear showed up.
I’ll admit the sunroof bit at the end got a chuckle out of me, but I feel like they could’ve just left it at the absurdity of the fish actually swimming away.
If you’re trying to market this as a family experience vehicle, why have a mauling scene? Just leave it as a ludicrous adventure to please your child’s obviously nonsensical request, as we’ve all done that in some capacity or another.
The AI addition really bugs me as well, cause I have many friends in the animation community.
Yeah, it started by eliciting sympathy for the fish which was a cute premise and it then took a morbid turn.
It was honestly jarring and ruined the whole thing for me.
Well said. What a bizarre, unfortunate commercial. It will only be memorable for how cringe it is, and not at all for the vehicle it is trying to sell.
I too have friends in the animation community, and the AI bear bugs me both because it is taking work from talented humans AND it looks every bit like the AI slop it is.
Please tell me they paid you for this, I don’t see “partner post” anywhere.
Stellantis is dead man walking… they just don’t know it yet.
Dead fish swimming.
I laughed, I cried. It was better than Cats.
(Still not buying a modern Jeep, though.)
The “Cherokee” badging on the door being misaligned is killing me.
Holy crap, you’re right!
The whole vehicle is misaligned. If they cant get the badge right what do you think the actual build is like?
They had badge alignment issues on the Wagoneer/GW when it first launched, too. Stuff happens, I just think it’s amusing that nobody noticed it for the commercial ostensibly launching the product.
But like the body gaps on any vehicle that has truly bad ones are noticeable, crooked badging is just lazy assembly and QA.
How does Torch not get a by line in this article? His editorial content is – what? – 40% of the word count?
I was so confused until I refreshed the page and the editorial appeared.
Oh it’s fine, I got my initials in there. Just part of the deal when I wear my editor’s thong.
*Salami Hammock
Is that a cousin of Peanut Hamper and Almond Basket?
It’s the bent one of the group.
Do you each have individual editor’s thongs or is this a communal thing passed from editor to editor based on whose day it is to wear it? Autopians want to know!
The Brotherhood of the Traveling Thong was a TERRIBLE sequel.
Where did I put my bucket of brain bleach?
Your editorial inside of this story was needed- how can the disturb-iness of this ad go in-discussed??
I wish I could un-read this post (and all the ones downstream)
I sense new merch coming…
Is this another Jeep Hybrid that may catch on fire? asking for a friend. I didn’t see fire extinguisher in the list of safety features.
It has a built-in Halon system.
So Jeep really is circling the Bowl.
I don’t blame them, whether there’s a cash shortage or not in Jeep’s finances. The going rate for those commercials is insane.
Keep fellating those stars and stripes, Jeep. You’re the brand of rugged individualists with bullets for antenna aerials, of antisocial monster truck drivers with angry eyes, of performative utility never used for good.
In that sense, Jeep really is America.
So…mission accomplished, I guess?
But the AD is for the Cherokee?
Ah yes, good catch! That’s been fixed
I feel like it says a lot about the ad if someone can’t remember what the model is after watching the ad.