• by Tanya Gazdik , February 12, 2023

Stellantis pushed its agencies to break through the “sea of sameness” of electric vehicle advertising for its two Super Bowl spots.  

The Jeep spot features dozens of animals doing the “Electric Slide” line dance. Ram enlists “The Daily Show” actor Jason Jones as the spokesperson  in a spot that riffs off of the ubiquitous “Ask your doctor” pharma ads.

Stellantis CMO Olivier Francois (who was born in France and lives much of his life in Italy, where he is also CEO of the Fiat brand) says before the agency pitches, he was not familiar with either the dance craze (which was created in 1976) or the format of pharma TV spots (which are not allowed in Europe.)

The spots, both from Highdive in Chicago, debuted the morning of the Super Bowl on each brand’s social channels. 

Francois is surprised there are not more automakers advertising on the big game. He was anticipating “a flood” of electric vehicle spots “because that's the only thing that is now super relevant.”

As it turns out, only two other automakers have announced plans for being on the Super Bowl (Kia and General Motors) with only one of them showing EVs (GM). 

“My brief to all 20 agencies was…in a sea of sameness in EV spots, do something very original,” Francois tells Marketing Daily. “I was wrong, but actually the wrong assumption led us to the right decision.”

Ram brand’s 60-second “Premature Electrification” will air at the beginning of the first commercial break of the fourth quarter. It will reveal the all-new all-electric Ram 1500 REV that opens customer reservations for a place in-line to pre-order the truck at RamRev.com. 

It marks the next step of the Ram Truck brand’s electrified journey seeking to again redefine the pickup truck segment. In the commercial, Jones humorously addresses potential electrification concerns that may weigh on consumers’ minds when purchasing an electric truck, including range, power and payload.  

“We created this commercial to speak directly to Ram truck owners and potential truck owners to bring some lighthearted humor to the high-tech, EV conversation, which rightfully takes itself very seriously,” Francois says.

Meanwhile, Jeep brand’s 60-second “Electric Boogie” will air at the beginning of the two-minute warning break before halftime. The spot celebrates the brand’s 4xe electrified vehicle expansion.

The Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe are featured in the spot with all-new version of iconic dance and song, “Electric Boogie” created specifically for the Super Bowl commercial.

The spot features species from across the animal kingdom dancing along to “Electric Boogie,” which remains a pop culture music staple decades after being released.

It is the first global campaign that the Jeep brand has developed based on a Super Bowl commercial, Francois says. 

The “Electric Boogle” track brings original Jamaican Reggae recording artist Marcia Griffiths together with Grammy Award-winning Jamaican recording artist and producer Shaggy.

Authenticity is one of the Jeep brand’s core pillars, so it was “extremely important” to release the modernized version of “Electric Boogie” with Griffiths, whose first recording of the song nearly 40 years ago made a huge impact on popular culture, Francois says.