Is Jeep’s Bruce Springsteen disaster the biggest ever Super Bowl howler?
Do advertisers do their homework when they’re signing up celebrities/influencers? The two are more or less indistinguishable these days.
Jeep in the US has pulled its expensive two-minute long Super Bowl ad, made by Doner, from further media (including MAA) following the revelation that star Bruce Springsteen was arrested for a DWI (drunk while intoxicated) offence last year.
Jeep was Springsteen’s first ad appearance and Jeep – owned by Chrysler which has used a succession of A-listers in its Super Bowl ads including Eminem, Clint Eastwood and Bod Dylan – seems to have been so carried away by its triumph in landing Springsteen that it didn’t do its research. Neither it seems did the agency.
As for Bruce, a hero to many, he probably wishes he’d never heard of advertising. Wonder if he’ll pay the money back?
Jeep has nothing on Nike with its long record of using drug users, maid rapers and dog fighters. As Phil Knight once said when asked if he would ever use Lance Armstrong again, he replied… “Never say never.” It’s all about the bucks baby…