Unlike last year’s Groundhog Day ad with Bill Murray and the Gladiator pickup truck, Jeep opted for a Super Bowl commercial that focuses on the bigger picture and the greater good. The ad features none other than Bruce Springsteen who delivers a heartfelt message to the viewers about finding ‘The Middle’ in terms of unity. Quite a brave attempt from Jeep, considering that all it showed was an old CJ-5 and, well, a rather controversial casting choice of the musician for this kind of a commercial.

The ad starts with Bruce talking about a Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas, that is geographically in the middle of the lower 48 states. “It’s no secret that the middle has been a hard place to get to lately”, he says, talking about how politics and other major intricacies have left people separated and divided. The two-minute-long video conveys a noble message and ends with the words “To the ReUnited States of America” appearing on the screen.

To use up a two-minute slot and not market its product directly like last year’s Groundhog Day video was a brave attempt on Jeep’s part. There is just an old CJ-5 that’s seen here, but it isn’t portrayed as the highlight. However, the video doesn’t seem to have struck a chord with people as Jeep would’ve expected to. Perhaps, it had to do with casting Bruce Springsteen as the face and the voice of the commercial.

Springsteen himself doesn’t seem to practice what he’s trying to preach here. He has been vocal about his political preferences in the past, wherein he has campaigned for Obama and has been a strong critic of Trump. It boils down to one’s own choices, but to cast someone who hasn’t been able to find the middle himself seems pretty odd.

In any other case, people would’ve been ecstatic to watch Bruce in his first-ever product commercial, but it didn’t seem to have worked very well here. Did this ad resonate with you, or was the message a little hazy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.