Jeep pulls Bruce Springsteen Super Bowl ad after news of police charges
Gateway National Recreation Area, New Jersey – On Wednesday, Jeep removed its Superbowl commercial with Bruce Springsteen after news broke that the star had been charged with drunk driving in 2020.
Jeep spent years trying to get Bruce Springsteen (71) to do a commercial with them, and it finally happened for Super Bowl LV.
According to the New York Times, the two-minute spot was the second most watched game-day commercial on YouTube as of Sunday night. The most watched was Amazon's, which featured Micheal B. Jordan as Alexa.
The Jeep commercial, titled The Middle, featured an original score by Springsteen. In the spot, Springsteen drives through rural America in a white Jeep and urges Americans to come together and find a middle ground.
On Wednesday, news broke that the singer had been arrested on November 14, 2020, for drunk driving in the Gateway National Recreation Area, according to USA Today. He received citations for driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, and consuming alcohol in a closed area.
After pulling the popular commercial from its Twitter and YouTube accounts on Wednesday, Jeep told the New York Times: "It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate."
Thirty seconds of air time during the Superbowl can cost around $5.5 million.
The company emphasized that the spot's message is still important: "Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned."
Cover photo: Screenshot/Instagram/springsteen