“Made in the USA” pride is the theme of Wieden + Kennedy’s first campaign for Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee, which carries the new tagline, “The things we make, make us.”
A 60-second commercial, which broke on Friday, uses images of American industry to celebrate historical craftsmanship and engineering feats. Shots of skyscrapers, locomotives and welders serve as the backdrop to a voiceover explaining, “As a people we do well when we make good things and not so well when we don’t.” The spot offers the new Jeep as an example of how such mistakes can be “put right,” with the narration concluding, “We just have to do it, so we did.”
Mike Manley, CEO of the Jeep Brand at Chrysler Group, said the work “has been carefully designed to communicate the Jeep brand’s commitment to American craftsmanship, the return of personal pride and dedication to producing a vehicle that is truly well made and beautifully designed.”
More product-specific ads will follow this summer.
Wieden also works on Chrysler’s Dodge brand, and is rolling out a new advertising campaign for the Challenger using a “Freedom” theme.
The first commercial in that push, breaking tonight on ESPN SportsCenter, reimagines a battle from the American Revolution with the colonists, led by George Washington, charging the British in cars instead of on horseback. The voiceover states, “Here are a couple of things America got right. Cars and freedom.”
The print continues the theme with a black-and-white image of the troops posing with the Challenger and the copy, “This is the car you buy because you can’t buy an American eagle.”
Jeep and Dodge spend about $150 million and $300 million annually on ads, respectively, per Nielsen.
