Posted on 02/09/2021 5:55:40 AM PST by NOBO2012
Today’s post is a re-direct to Larry Correia’s recent post, Read the Room, Jeep! in which he imagines how Jeep came up with their preachy, insulting, tone-deaf commercial targeting the deplorable chumps in fly-over America:
JEEP CORPORATE OFFICE –
The CEO of Jeep stands at the head of a conference table filled with the CorpoUniParty’s best and brightest. “Alright, our new campaign is going to be about Reuniting America, so we’re going to aim it at those horrible, knuckle dragging red state deplorables.”
“But sir, aren’t they all domestic terrorist insurrectionists who need to be driven from society because they believe in evil conspiracy theories like unfair elections?”
Everyone at the table laughed, because red staters are so stupid. Everyone knows the election was merely fortified.
Before we go on, here’s the commercial in case you missed it and I know most of you did. Warning: Best to watch on an empty stomach.
In Correia’s imaginary group think they discuss using a woman for the voice over but reject the idea:
“No. Everyone knows Red Staters hate women. I saw it on the Hand Maid’s Tale. We need nominally male gender identifying, someone who represents those backwards inbred hicks. Can we get Bruce Springsteen?”
“But sir, isn’t he a flaming liberal from New Jersey who campaigned for Joe Biden and who routinely sneers at our target audience of uneducated rubes? Since they’re feeling mocked, disenfranchised, and thousands of them just lost their high paying energy jobs, how can we foist a coastal elitist millionaire musician on them?”
The MBAs all share a confused and worried glance about how to overcome this seemingly insurmountable issue.
“Hmm… But what if we stick him in a cowboy hat?”
“BRILLIANT!”
(nice touch, church and cross in background)
I will say that Jeep’s choice of Bruce “I love Australia. If Trump is re-elected I'll see you on the next plane” Springsteen as the spokesman for their meet-in-the-middle commercial seems a bit hypocritical at best. At worst it seems as though they’ve totally lost the plot.
Many people commented on the brilliant symbolism of using the Communist Red Star.
“The last time I saw a red star like that, I was in Vietnam.”
While others were a bit put off that Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was missing – particularly offensive as Jeep’s headquarters are in Michigan. Some went so far as to speculate that the UP had been given to Canada in a new NAFTA/Free Trade deal.
But back to Larry’s take on the Jeep spot:
“Hi. I’m Bruce Springsteen, millionaire musician, but today I’m driving around bumf*ck nowhere in some busted ass old jeep to a melancholy soundtrack looking like an extra on Longmire so that you know I’m JUST LIKE YOU. Poor.
Look. A cross. Because Jesus or something. I don’t know. I got paid like two hundred grand for one day of work. Here’s some high-minded sounding poet laureate style voice over about how we’re all in this together that I probably recorded in the studio in my mansion.
Now I’m gonna be extra sanctimonious about how hard it is to meet in THE MIDDLE.
Red versus Blue… Sure, team blue was all #RESIST for the last four years and endless goofy investigations, but if you think security videos of 50 mystery boxes being delivered by a Detroit election van at 3:00 AM is worthy of an audit you are basically a terrorist who needs to be cancelled and driven from society…
We need that connection. We need the middle. Because somebody has to pay the taxes to bail out our hedge fund buddies.
There’s a Divide. Of course that divide is your problem and totally not our fault. Look, a horse.
Or at least a horse’s arse.
That’s how a lot of YouTube commenters saw it anyway:
“Jeep 1941: Let’s kill fascists. Jeep 2021: Let’s meet in the middle.”
And my personal favorite:
If the “MIDDLE GROUND FALLACY” was a TV Commercial…
Congratulations Jeep, for somewhere around $25 million you ran an add that completely alienated your target audience. And the audience you inadvertently pandered to, well they don’t buy gas guzzling SUVs. Because climate, or something.
Otherwise, well done.
Posted from: MOTUS A.D.
The problem with the commercial, wasn’t so much finding the middle... that’s a fine message..
The problem was, you have a known and active left winger who has spouted hate at those he doesn’t agree with politically for decades as your mouth piece to deliver it....
That’s where this commercial fails... and it proves just how out of touch the casting director and the ad men that made this are.
If I were on Jeeps board and someone said lets make a commercial like this, I would be okay with it, probably green light it, but if you said we want Bruce Springsteen to be the spokesperson I would fire that ad firm on the spot... Because Bruce is not “middle” politically, and never has been.
The Jeep director of brand product marketing is a Canadian so you probably hit the nail on the head.
If Geico can use a gecko and Liberty Mutual an emu, Fiat could use a Narnia mouse to sell its cars and call him Reepijeep; it couldn’t be any worse than the one who was born in the USA and blinded by the light.
Never had a jeep. Used to own a 1944 Dodge weapons carrier. I think it was a model 52B. Now that was a off-roader. Bought it from the Arkansas National Guard in ‘65. About a year later I had Charlie Maldin’s in Little Rock replace the old flat-head six and fit a rebuilt 241 cu.in. Red Ram and Bill Starr’s machine shop in North Little Rock cobbled up the motor mounts and flywheel housing adapter plates. Used to run it a lot out at the old bauxite pits south of Little Rock and it got a lot of use as a go-fer when we deer hunting down in Pine Bluff and Fordyce. It really ran well and had suitable power for off-road but you didn’t want to abuse it as the tranny was for a six, not a V-8.
Maybe it’s appropriate that a Fiat-owned company speaks on behalf of a fiat president.
The other problem is this: Would they have run the add if Trump was re-elected? We know the answer. This was a political ad for Democrats masquerading as a Jeep ad.
Worse. Now French-owned (Stellantis...formerly Peugeot)
It’s hard to meet in the middle with somebody who wants to beat you to death.
I don’t want to be beat half to death either.
They should have gotten a no-name actor to do it. But I still think most of us would have still hated it. No matter who the spokeperson was, the implication was that Trump and right-wingers caused the "the great divide" and that with Biden in office, we can now "heal".
The Jeep marketing folks looked at each other, at their HR and publicity-woke-BLM supporting board, at their scared VP’s and at their marketing “gurus” and their advertiser-advisors and the ad’s TV producers and writers and directors and “Bruce Springsteen” (his Born in the USA song = a real American patriot, right?) ... And ALL of THOSE PEOPLE all agreed that this was the “Way to sell a Jeep.” To themselves.
Ain’t gonna sell one to their actual market.
The middle of the country isn’t caught between red and blue! It is solidly red.
Keen revela-them!
He’s definitely a “gun guy” like his “Monster Hunter “ books. Great article.
Exactly !
My first reaction
Fk jeep , born in the red commie star ussa bruce and the left
/Congratulations Jeep, for somewhere around $25 million you ran an add that completely alienated your target audience./
My second reaction was an intense urge to not only never buy a jeep,,
But to SELL the jeep I own now.
Spit.
Yea the red star was the icing on the cake..
Jeep is going to need a cigarette smoking, scotch swilling Don Draper to pull them out of this.
I think we pretty much all agree that Springsteen sucks and it was a piss-poor choice.
The message though? I’m torn admittedly. Would I like to see this Country united, sure? I think we’re likely closer to a permanent separation now than unity.
With that being said—I’m a member of the Jeep community. I have the new Wrangler and it is amazing, period. Nothing comes close. I can go places (and have) that 99% of the vehicles on the road can’t.
It’s still a “true” Jeep. It has solid axles, optional sway bar disconnects, lockers, etc.
The community is just as amazing. Look into “Jeeps for Georgie” if you want to see the community that I’m referring to. No other vehicle on the planet has a similar following.
I don’t like the commercial, but I’m torn on the message.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.