The rumors are true. Bruce Springsteen will appear in a Super Bowl commercial for Jeep.
You can watch the clip, which offers a message of hope and healing, below.
According to a press release, the two-minute commercial, “The Middle,” was filmed in various locations — including “on the grounds of the U.S. Center Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas, which stands on the geographical center (the middle) of the United States of America’s lower 48 states.” Two longtime Springsteen associates, director Thom Zimny and producer Ron Aniello, were involved as well; Springsteen wrote and produced the music for the spot with Aniello.
The commercial will only appear on television only this one time.
Springsteen says in the commercial:
“There’s a chapel in Kansas standing on the exact center of the Lower 48. It never closes. All are more than welcome to come meet here in the middle.
“It’s no secret the middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between Red and Blue, between servant and citizen, between our freedom and our fear. Now fear has never been the best of who we are. And as for freedom, it’s not the property of just the fortunate few. It belongs to us all. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, it’s what connects us. And we need that connection. We need the middle.
“We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground, so we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop, through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there’s hope on the road up ahead.”
The words, “to the ReUnited States of America,” then appear on the screen.
Springsteen has never made a commercial like this before.
In the press release, Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau said he and Jeep’s marketing head “have been discussing ideas for the last 10 years and when he showed us the outline for ‘The Middle,’ our immediate reaction was, ‘Let’s do it.’ Our goal was to do something surprising, relevant, immediate and artful. I believe that’s just what Bruce has done with ‘The Middle’.”
Here is the commercial:
And HERE are some thoughts of mine on the question of whether this should be viewed as a sell out.
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3 comments
This is earth shattering. Thanks for this wonderful clip .
This is not a sell out. The jeep is not that in your face visible, but Bruce’s message is. Visually stunning and beautiful music of course.