Jeep has a long history of producing Super Bowl commercials that resonate with its owners. The automaker’s commercial for Super Bowl LII follows along that same blueprint. There are no celebrities trying to fit inside the SUV to make a pitch. There are no witty lines and slapstick comedy routines. There are, however, plenty of beautiful shots of America’s roads and expansive highway systems. There’s also a brooding voiceover that emphasizes the importance of roads in today’s world and the need to, on some occasions, look past them.

The message of the commercial is clear: it’s not really about Jeep or any one of its models. It’s about Jeep promoting its identity as a story-teller. The idea of roads and highways is a beautiful thing for practical reasons. But these aren’t the places where Jeep can tell its best stories. These stories are reserved in places that are far from the urban jungles and closer to where man and nature can still meet and coexist.

It’s not a surprise that Jeep concluded the ad with a shot of the all-new Cherokee heading up a stream to God-knows-where in the woods. This kind of environment is where Jeep thrives. The voiceover hit it in the head when he said that the road “is someone else’s idea.” There are no stories to tell there because all of them have already been told.

But out in the woods where only a few go? That’s where the narratives are at their best. And, at least in Jeep’s mind, there’s no better companion to tell these stories than the all-new Cherokee.

References

Jeep Wrangler

Read our full review on the 2018 Jeep Wrangler.

Jeep Cherokee

Read our full review on the 2019 Jeep Cherokee.

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