It’s already being hailed as one of the best, most patriotic, ads of this year’s Super Bowl.
It’s a new take on the National Anthem with few actual words being sung, but a word-for-word rendition in the video.
Sound confusing?
Auto Evolution explains more:
If you look at the ad casually, there’s a good chance you’ll miss what Jeepw as trying to do. The only words that come out of Ryan Tedder’s mouth are “Oh say can you see…” at the beginning of the two-minutes long clip and “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave” at the end.
In between, a lot of images with apparently no connection.
Jeep describes the video as a “word-by-word visual score” of the national anthem, meaning that for the better part of it corresponding images were used instead of words, on the backdrop of piano music.
Let’s explain (with words).
The first verse of the anthem is “Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light.” That translated in the clip as follows: Oh is the shape of a tire, say is a woman pointing at her mouth, can is a soda can, you is a poster of Uncle Sam pointing a finger, see is another woman looking up, by the dawn is a morning jogger, early is an alarm clock set at 4.00 AM, and light is a light bulb coming on.
See where this is going?
Jeep vehciles appear in the clip 13 or so times. Each time the image is supposed to correspond to a certain word in a certain verse. We’ll let you discover what image belongs where in the clip attached below.
Note to the brave who will try though: if you don’t know The Star-Spangled Banner by heart, it would be better to find a written version of it before getting to work, or else the clip remain just another ad with pretty pictures.
Watch it here:
The Western Journal had more:
The ad was produced as part of Jeep’s “Big Game Commercial Blitz Series” dedicated to the Super Bowl, according to Auto Evolution, but it’s unclear whether it’s going to be taking up one of the commercial slots come game time. AdWeek reported last week that “the company is still mum on their official plans” for the Super Bowl.
However, if it does, it might be the most political ad we see during this year’s game — assuming, of course, you buy into the narrative that the national anthem is inherently political.
“Advertisers are hoping to provide some welcome distraction and entertainment as economic fears persist and the nation’s political climate remains sharply divided,” The Associated Press reported.
“As much as this year’s Super Bowl will be a battle on the field between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, it will be a battle between advertisers over who gets the buzz — and who gets forgotten.”
“Celebrities are a relatively safe bet to garner good will from Super Bowl viewers who aren’t looking to be lectured at. There has been a retreat from more overtly political ads that were seen during the 2017 Super Bowl from such companies as 84 Lumber and Airbnb.”
Aside from the AP’s weird belief that this is because “economic fears persist” (the same wire service one day later: “A robust job gain in January shows US economy’s durability”), the general sentiment seems to be accurate. Celebrities seem to be the big theme of the of the year, AP reports — Jeff Bridges, Steve Carrell and Sarah Michelle Gellar will all make appearances — as companies are “shying away from controversy.”
“It’s such a big investment. Advertisers really want to generate as much return as they can,” Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins told the AP.
“I think we’ll see a lot of humor and product-focused advertising. A lot of advertisers are nervous about taking on big themes.”
“The big theme is a return to light-hearted humor,” University of Virginia professor Kim Whitler told the AP. “There’s an acknowledgement the Super Bowl is about entertainment.”
And, perhaps, an acknowledgement that the national anthem isn’t toxic.
If this ad actually does air during the big game, we predict Jeep’s ad could steal the show, even in a year of multitudinous celebrities.
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