Jeep is doing a new marketing campaign for the latest Jurassic World film, and while I was initially going to write about how boring it is relative to the original Jurassic Park marketing brilliance, I’m not going to hate. I think it’s fine that Jeep is doing some Jurassic Park-themed marketing, even if the brand will never live up to what it did back in 1993. But this leads me to wonder: Is there a vehicle more defined by its role in a blockbuster movie than the Jeep Wrangler YJ?
The Jeep Wrangler YJ is the “cheap Jeep,” largely due to its polarizing looks (square headlights) and its successor being a significant improvement by pretty much every measure. But there’s always been one thing keeping the YJ’s value from dropping to the level of sauce packet or refill: The vehicle’s starring role in Jurassic Park.
Seriously, you cannot watch Jurassic Park and not fall in love with the charming little YJ and its beige-and-red Jurassic Park livery:
There’s a reason why so many people still put Jurassic Park livery on their YJs; this one that was up for auction at Mecum looks really nicely done:
And there’s a reason why, a couple of years ago, Jeep offered a modernized Jurassic Park-inspired appearance package for the modern JL Wrangler:
Jeep’s latest bit of marketing, meant to ride the wave of Jurassic World Rebirth, which hits theaters early next month, isn’t quite as cool; it’s basically just a 30-second-spot showing a green four-door JL driving among Dinosaurs:
Stellantis gets into other elements of this marketing campaign in its press release, writing:
- 360-degree marketing campaign includes a long-form video to launch across Jeep brand social media channels later this week, including Instagram, Facebook and TikTok; 30-second version to run across television
- New York City Times Square billboard will feature the flying dinosaur (Quetzalcoatlus) as it soars above the Jeep Wrangler
- The campaign is being activated at more than 2,000 U.S. dealerships via a point-of-sale kit that includes a poster, dinosaur egg mirror hangers and dinosaur claw and footprint decals
- Press tour kickoff for the film in Mexico City at CCXP featured a Jeep Wrangler 4xe arriving on stage
- Similar to Jeep brand’s Super Bowl commercial, “Owner’s Manual,” the spot will offer eagle-eyed viewers a cameo appearance of a future Jeep 4×4 vehicle inside the dinosaur lab
- The Jeep brand design team has created a first-of-its-kind Jurassic badge, appearing in the Tier 2 spot, which will be available soon in limited supply to consumers
It’s fine, but it’s impossible to live up to the brand equity the original move created in the Wrangler YJ. Though that makes me wonder: Are there other examples where a movie truly defined a model in the eyes of the general population?
People call the YJ “The Jurassic Park Jeep,” though they never call the XJ “The Boonies Jeep,” even though The Boonies was one of the XJ’s first and most important appearances in a blockbuster film.
There’s Back to the Future, which definitely defined the way the world sees the DeLorean DMC-12, but what are some other examples? That’s todays’s Autopian Asks.
Top graphic image: Jurassic Park/Universal Studios via screen grab
Small screen, but still a blockbuster at the time:
For those of us of a certain age, there is one real reason we were familiar with the Ferrari 365 GTS Daytona.
And for that matter, the Phil Collins song In the Air Tonight.
The 964 Turbo in the original Bad Boys movie is the one that comes to mind for me. Probably because I’ve seen the movie a thousand times, and I’ve been obsessed with 911s for damn near my entire life.
I wouldn’t say that the 911 Turbo was defined by its appearance in the movie, but it did play a pretty central role in a lot of scenes. I mean, the opening scene was basically about the car…well, the car and Marcus’s lack of respect for other people’s property.
Now I want to watch Bad Boys again just to see that car. I lusted after it as a car-obsessed teenager as well. That particular 911 Turbo was one of my favorites.
Also, young Tea Leoni.
Yep.. the 964 is still one of my favorite 911s. The movie is still fun too, I just re-watched it a couple of months ago. Obviously not a masterpiece of filmmaking, but still entertaining.
Also, young Tea Leoni.. I was like 15 when that movie came out and I had the biggest celebrity crush on her.
Fully agree, definitely no masterpiece, but good fun.
Vista Cruiser from That 70s Show
I haven’t seen the Dodge Ram 2500 in Twister mentioned yet. Maybe that’s just for me though.
This is not a movie but I think Breaking Bad had an impact on Pontiac Aztecs.
Good one. The movie was a Ram commercial. Love the J10 too.
The J10 is actually my favorite truck from the movie (the dually Suburban is good too) but the Ram is more iconic. I just rewatched it and it really was a Ram commercial, except for the end…
When I was a teen in the 90s, I desperately wanted a Mini.
As I scoured classifieds and Mini magazines, I kept encountering cars for sale described as “Italian Job.”
Pre-internet, I had no idea what this meant. Was there some special Italian version of the Mini that was better than a Cooper S?
Whatever it was, “Italian Job” made these cars desirable.
After consulting with local Mini experts, I learned that they were referencing the brilliant Michael Caine heist film from 1969.
Then I rented the tape and it was epic. The remake definitely didn’t do it justice.
Every time I see a Mercedes ML 320, I think of Jurassic Park The Lost World. That thing had an epic tug of war with an RV hanging off a cliff!
Also, it’s sad that every first gen Explorer ever has now been reduced to it’s base elements. If any of those were still around, they would surely be the Jurassic park nostalgia poster child. They were the ones with the awesome paint job after all.
Also, kudos to Universal for using multiple car brands in lead roles in the movie, which means that one of the best automotive product placements of all time possibly wasn’t even a product placement.
No one said the 73 Delta 88 from the Evil Dead series?
And others…
-SPOILERS-
RIP Uncle Ben
The Porsche 928 from Risky Business. I love that car
“Who’s the U-Boat Commander?”
Lol! Thank you for that reference haha
And the 944 in Sixteen Candles!
I’m going to go with a car that is typecast as the dark/mysterious organization car, the black on black land yacht: 1960’s Lincoln Continental (The Matrix and Severance)
Two 1967 cars come to mind:
The Plymouth Belvedere GTX Convertible from Tommy Boy and the Citroen DS from the Goddess of 1967.
You’ve gotta be kidding me– 3 pages of comments, and nobody mentioned the Ferrari 250 GT California from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Aren’t you all like 3 times older than me??
BMW e38 in the Transporter
yes
The Dodge Viper had an entire TV show dedicated to it. The show was called… Viper!
Does THAT count? 😀
No, because the show sucked and nobody cares.
I refuse to believe anyone actually watched enough Viper to know for sure if it’s good or not.
I watched the first episode. I was in middle school at the time. I did not watch any episodes of that hot trash.
Austin A35 panel van: Wallace and Grommit
Land Rover: the Gods must be crazy
Small screen:
Rick Simon’s 1980 Dodge Power Wagon and A.J. Simon’s Camaro Z28.
Remington Steele’s Boattail Speedster.
It does remind me of how back in the 80s when cars from the 60s were mostly seen as just old cars, plenty of us knew C2 Corvettes as a thing only b/c of Stingray.
Forgotten but fantastic show, I was pumped when Tubi picked it up.
I have a vague memory of this Stingray show from my childhood. Gawd I’m getting old.
The Boonies? I think you mean The Goonies for the XJ.
David must have been editing this and didn’t know any better.
That was my thought, he wrote the article and knows the least about movies.
Usually one doesn’t edit their own work, but ANYONE other then him would have caught that.
Hardly a blockbuster, but the 1970 Dodge Challenger in Vanishing Point.
I am surprised, and kinda glad, they didn’t do a remake of this movie.
Oh… they did.
Vanishing Point at IMDB
You’re right! Know what the worst part is? I saw that version and completely forgot about it.
That’s probably for the best.
True.
The only thing I know about the show The Saint is he drove a Volvo P1800. Sadly, Val Kilmer didn’t in the movie remake.
Also, BAs van in A-Team.
Though he did drive a C70 convertible, which was the sportiest thing Volvo had going at the time.
Fun trivia – Roger Moore has an uncredited role as the radio announcer at the very end.
‘The Saint’-themed Volvo commercial is a real time capsule, that is stuck in my brain forever instead of something important.
Thanks to you, I watched it again, and damn I’d forgotten how good it is – it perfectly captures the classy action/adventure free you’d expect/associate with a European car, but with the slightly unusual vibe that both the franchise and the car company go for.
Two slightly-off tastes that go pretty well together!
And Hannibal and B.A. would agree with me – you can’t go wrong with machine gunning of logos.
DeLorean DMC-12 – Back to the Future
1969 Dodge Charger (“General Lee”) – The Dukes of Hazzard
1976 Ford Gran Torino – Starsky & Hutch
1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 (“Eleanor”) – Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (actually a 1976 made to look like a 1977) – Smokey and the Bandit
Aston Martin DB5 – James Bond (multiple films)
1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am (“KITT”) – Knight Rider
Mini Cooper – The Italian Job (1969 & 2003)
1970 Dodge Charger R/T – The Fast and the Furious
1973 Ford Falcon XB GT (“Pursuit Special”) – Mad Max
Chevrolet Camaro (“Bumblebee”) – Transformers
1963 Volkswagen Beetle (“Herbie”) – The Love Bug
Toyota Supra – The Fast and the Furious
1974 Dodge Monaco – The Blues Brothers
Ferrari 308 GTS – Magnum, P.I.
Chevrolet Impala (1967) – Supernatural
Jeep Wrangler YJ Sahara – Jurassic Park
Cadillac Miller-Meteor (Ecto-1) – Ghostbusters
1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster (Shaguar) – Austin Powers.
Would add the Dodge Ram from Twister
That movie is basically one long Ram commercial
I think this is a great list, only to add:
1985 Toyota Pickup SR5 – BTTF
1969 Dodge Challenger “Daytona” – Joe Dirt
1983 Porsche 928 – Risky Business
1976 AMC Pacer “Mirthmobile” – Wayne’s World
1978 Pontiac Firebird Formula – The Rockford Files
1983 GMC Vandura – The A-Team
1981 Jeep J10 – Twister
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T – Vanishing Point
The J10 had a whole website dedicated for finding it and restoring along with what modifications were done because it was “retro” striped specifically for Twister.
Along with the other comments, the Dodge Ram reveal occurred in that movie and the bad guys drove Dodge/Plymouth minivans.
The Mini Cooper in the remake of “The Italian Job”. Bullit, or Elenore in “Gone in 60 seconds”.
Came here to say Bullitt. You beat me to it.
5.0 mustang in the vanilla ice song- while not a movie, a case could be made it enshrined the 5.0 even more in pop culture with yet another demographic.
Don’t forget GTO by the Beach Boys. (R.I.P. Brian Wilson)
And Ms Kristina’s 944 from Welcome to the Boomtown.
There’s some references to a pink Cadillac that comes to mind too…
Don’t forget Prince’s Little Red Corvette!
I would also add Sixteen Candles for the 944.
It’s not the focal point car – that’s a 928 – but in deference to Adrian, Weird Science does feature a Mondial convertible!
928 was Risky Business. Didn’t Jake have a 944 in Sixteen Candles?
Both correct, but also, in Weird Science, Wyatt has a 928 and Gary the Mondial, both conjured up by Kelly LeBrock in her all time best role.
“…now I’m not talking candle wax on the nipples or witchcraft or anything, just a couple hundred high school kids running around like animals.”
I’m hearing the little brother say “Classic”.
It seems that television cars are okay, so I nominate Emma Peel’s Lotus Elan from the The Avengers in the mid-60s. Even in dull black and white that car’s beauty shone through. It’s what I think of whenever I hear Lotus.
Good call. For me, it’s also Tara King’s red Lotus Europa.
Small screen – I see a red Ferrari 308 GTS and think of Magnum PI.
Small screen, The Fall Guy’s iconic GMC pickup.
Now let’s do fictional cars. The Wagon Queen Family Truckster will be hard to top in that category, but I’m willing to consider The Homer.
If you think you hate it now, just wait until you drive it.
My favorite bit re this is how the model makes another appearance in Christmas Vacation, with Clark now driving a late 80s version of it.
Yup, the 80s Taurus wagon that they put fake wood side panels on. “The ‘ol front wheel drive sleigh.” Christmas Vacation was definitely my favorite of the movies.
I think there is a quick shot of the original Wagon Queen Family Truckster still in the garage at one point,
I’d nominate the “EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle” from Stripes.