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
What a horrific commercial. I had the same initial thought as Jason; the father and son are about to litter. If they had ended they commercial with the sentient robot fish swimming off to live a happy life, the commercial would have been dumb but cute. The slow dismemberment and assumed death of the fish was completely unnecessary. I don’t see this winning any customers.
Can we get a series of articles with Jason breaking down all of the Super Bowl commercials?
So, the real physical electric robot fish represents the existential anxiety of self driving cars and the AI generated bear is Putin‘s Russia ripping us to shreds when the AI fails? Then the Eagle representing the USA swoops down tho snatch its lunch from the jaws of the Russian Bear, only to discover that it can’t eat autonomous robots and goes off somewhere and starves?
Then I watched it
You left out the part about the pregnant mom. It’s the archetype of the replacement sibling pushing out the imaginary friend.
It’s always fun when the creative team is left unsupervised, this really looks like a SNL ad.
This is the worst commercial ever. WTF!!?
Isn’t this the plot of the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence?
I was thinking the same thing, maybe with a little blade runner sequel or westworld thrown in.
Maybe it’s coding that – compassion is evil – thing the MAGAts are going on about.
So dumb. So Stellantis.
I’m not sure what’s more of a colossal cluster fuck: the company, the car, the commercial, or the rollout plan.
Fair enough, the owl hasn’t really ever been that superb anyway.
Coming this summer, Cocaine Bear Versus Cocaine Flappy Bird.
Could we get a vote here about the ad, as in Shitbox showdown?
I agree with Torch’s statement that this won’t sell Jeeps. The marketing gaffe of the dad saying “stay safe” to the dying fish followed by the VO’s talking about safety features is stupendously blindly bad.
I think that the biggest problem though with the ad is not even that it requires you to suspend disbelief regarding an AI, live mechanical fish. Easily enough done, especially for a two minute commercial rather than a whole movie.
The real problem is with the human elements. Dad knows kid is delusional but is still going to drive him to the river so his kid can see his friend short circuit in the water and have his reality shattered. Kid has feeling for the fish, and wants to set it free, but is unbothered when it’s savagely shredded and is still screaming as it’s flown away.
Traditional Jeep advertisements show ill advised shenanigans somewhere that medical help will come by helicopter if there is cell phone coverage, and someone to make the call.
Jeep buyers aren’t that interested in safety, they can’t even commit to doors.
Part of the make-an-ad-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-product trend these days.
I guess they’re trying to make a little movie to win awards…
Okay, all of the horrors about this aside, you’ve gotta admit that “ad that has nothing to do with the product” is not a “these days” trend. The fact the Jeep was used to travel to a somewhat-wilderness-shaped location puts it in the above-average for car ads relating to cars.
It could have been any truck or SUV…
Again, could be said for most car ads.
If they wanted to make an impact it would have had a bold price, highlighted. Throw away and whole ad and put in big bold impact – starting under 30k.
Any thing else is just fluff.
I wish them well, I really do like the brand.
I’m quite certain they’ll eff it up
…as equipped, $50 grand.
I mean it’s what I expected. It is amazing to me that folks can look at what Kia is doing with the telluride and still shit the bed like this.
I guess their target demo is young families. They attempted the emotional appeal then went into a strange comedy maybe I just don’t know what I just watched. Especially with the authentic ai bear, bird, and, fish. There has been a lot of theories about brands putting their commericals out before even if they are buying airtime because their target demos either aren’t super interested in watching or are boycotting for one reason or another. Maybe there is someone finally watching the books at stellantis $8m to play that to people is steep. Some dip shit spent a good chunk of money producing that so they didn’t get there soon enough.
I think the American arm of Stellantis’s marketing department should explore producing perfume commercials to help offset the lack of income from the sales of their vehicles.
Or to cover recall expenditures.
The highlight of this whole thing is Torch’s note. Otherwise it sounds like just another shitty Super Bowl ad, which is mostly what we’ve gotten over the past decade thanks to the cost being so high. By the time you pay for the ad time, you apparently have no budget left over to actually make a good ad.
Also, I hate that they release these things a week before the game.
Well, I guess I might be the only one who actually laughed out loud at the commercial. Maybe that says something about me, maybe not. Still not going to buy a Jeep and not sure how this commercial would sway anyone in that direction. Thanks for showing it to me anyway.
As far as the AI bear, I mean, it’s just advanced CGI, right? I can’t find the energy to get upset about it.
I always laugh at the Wildebeest being eaten by the Crocodile – but it’s also not an ad trying to sell me something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMJXvsCLu6s
To be fair, I’m not sure the Jeep ad is actually trying to sell me anything. While I found it entertaining, I did not find it giving me positive feelings toward the Jeep.
I found it deeply disturbing, but it didn’t hurt my already bad opinions of Stellantis
I think they just realized, after spending lots of $$ creating it, that the commercial plays well to certain demographics and really poorly to others. So, instead of putting it in the Superbowl and upsetting a bunch of little kids, they set up a press event and invited the press who caters to their intended audience only.
It upset this 71 year old.
This 70.5 year old thought it was funny
The idea that there is a business case for it was a bit disturbing.
The ven diagram of likely jeep buyers and people amused by this ad are two lonely circles far away from each other other.
They should have just handed it over to SNL to run
I Usually boycott the game. its over hyped and i prefer college. Many commercials over try to be funny and wind up being unfunny. Some are very good. But why are they shown minimally after initial airing? All of makes little sense
Wondering what model year the Billy Bass is in the ad…
After reading Jason’s notes, I’m not inclined to watch this at all. :/ In general, I’ve never been entertained by pure destruction (in this context, I can give Battle Bots as an example), and giving the thing a little personality makes it even worse.
Also, I am sick. and. [expletives deleted]. tired. of all this A.I. crap. It’s to the point that I don’t even want to read about supposedly useful scientific research applications for it. You can’t put the manure back in the horse, so I guess we’re stuck with A.I., but I’m so tired of feeling like I have to examine every image and video I encounter and note all the ‘tells.’
The premise is that the suffering of others is hilarious. Sort of like Itchy and Scratchy, except that was satirizing the above idea. When Bart and Lisa laugh hysterically at the absurd violence, we’re supposed to realize this isn’t actually funny at all. Anyway, fits in nicely with the current climate of “the cruelty is the point.”
I briefly thought maybe they intentionally made a horrific ad knowing people would talk about it. Yeah this site ran the story, but we’ve all added 120+ comments. Almost all of them are negative however they’ll all be counted as “impressions” in some marketing report
The insane amount of wiring (and all being black and red) really grind my gears. Like… why?
I haven’t opened a singing fish but it could not have more than a couple motors, some LEDs, and the respective wires inside. The sound module should be self-contained and probably built into the base.
I think it’s b/c Jeep thinks we’re stupid (Jury is still out…) and that we don’t know how anything actually works.
This was the company that gave us the 4Xe…
Man, anyone else remember the Trauma Bowl, that year where a bunch of the ads were super dark and depressing? Especially that one where the kid watches his racecar-driver father die in a fiery crash to the tune of “Cat’s in the Cradle”?
Yes. Every other ad was basically about neglectful dads. Which… weird slant for a marketing campaign?
I’d have to assume a few different companies hired the same agency run by someone with some pretty severe daddy issues.
If everyone spent over-priced advertising money on their employees, we’d probably be mildly better off as a society.
But the real society improvement won’t come until we start to ignore Twitter (and other dumpsterfire-socialmedia) rants.
Cocaine bear>AI Bear.
To be fair, Cocaine Bear was kind of meh.
All the good bits were already in the trailer.
I’m more of a “Never Say No to Panda” fan
Oh, not cocaine beer?
That’s so 70s I guess
I prefer the Crack Seal, found in Alaska. The town of Homer even has signs telling you there’s a “CRACK SEAL TEAM AHEAD” working on road repairs.