Jeep Wrangler 4xe gets splashy Super Bowl-like ad debut for Golden Globes
Jeep and its creative team decided to parody 2001: A Space Odyssey with an earthly twist.
Television and films were the true stars Sunday night during the 78th Golden Globes award show, but Jeep's parent automaker Stellantis wanted to introduce viewers to its latest vehicle: the 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid. And the Golden Globes is one of the times automakers occasionally curate something a touch more captivating than your standard ad spot. In this case, the Wrangler 4xe's commercial feels much more like a Super Bowl ad.
The theme of the ad is a parody of Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Except it all takes place on Earth with lots of animal friends helping to create a far more natural rendition of Also Sprach Zarathustra, better known to modern audiences as the 1968's film's theme song. The bellowing horns and thumping drums actually date back to 1896 when German composer Richard Strauss composed and performed the "tone poem." It just happened to find new life in the mid-20th century.
I digress. As the Wrangler 4xe sweeps through the wilderness, the plug-in hybrid SUV emerges like one of nature's own as the animal kingdom portrays its collective confusion that there can be a more eco-friendly Wrangler. It's a light-hearted ad, a tad dramatic and good for a smile as some goofy animals lend their calls to the theme song.
The 2021 Wrangler launches in the next few weeks and starts just under $50,000 -- before the available $7,500 federal tax credit and other state and local incentives for buying an electrified vehicle. A 2.0-liter turbo-four and 17 kilowatt-hour battery help create a 375-horsepower Wrangler with 470 pound-feet of torque on tap. It will be the most powerful Wrangler to date -- until the V8-powered 392 variant launches. But unlike the V8-powered SUV, the 4xe model will go 25 miles on electricity and should return 50 miles per gallon equivalent with the electrified powertrain hard at work.