Bruce Springsteen sets unifying tone in Jeep's Super Bowl ad

UPDATE: Following news that Bruce Springsteen was arrested nearly three months ago at a national park in New Jersey on charges that included reckless driving and driving while intoxicated, Jeep said it had stopped running the ad featuring Springsteen until more was known about the incident.

"It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate," Jeep, a unit of Stellantis, said in a statement.

"But it's also right that we pause our Big Game commercial until the actual facts can be established. Its message of community and unity is as relevant as ever. As is the message that drinking and driving can never be condoned."

At this time, the commercial has been taken off YouTube and isn't available for viewing.

Jeep released its Big Game commercial on the morning of Super Bowl Sunday, and like several past messages from Jeep's parents Stellantis (the company that resulted when Fiat Chrysler merged with France's Peugeot), this one is meant to tug on patriotic heart strings. Called "The Middle", the commercial stars Bruce Springsteen and centers around the very center of the United States in Lebanon, Kansas.

There are only two Jeep vehicles in this commercial, and neither one is new. Springsteen is seen driving a 1980 Jeep CJ-5 with the top down in a few scenes, and there's another CJ-5, this one from 1965 when Jeeps still wore Willy's badges, seen stationary. Springsteen doesn't just star in this advertisement, he's credited with reworking the script and with writing and producing the original score. It will air just once tonight during the Super Bowl and won't be on television again.

Olivier Francois, Global Chief Marketing Officer for Stellantis, said in a statement, “'The Middle' is a celebration of the Jeep brand’s 80-year anniversary and, more timely, it is a call to all Americans to come together and seek common ground as we look collectively to the road ahead.” He added, “Bruce Springsteen was instrumental in crafting this joint message. His experiences and perspective have often been called upon to bridge a divide. Now seems to be a time when a message like this is greatly needed.”

Watch the ad up above, and be sure you don't fast forward through the commercials throughout the game and specifically in the fourth quarter when this one is expected to run.