Jeep "Whole Again" Super Bowl Commercial

For last two years, Chrysler has created quite a buzz with their Super Bowl advertisements. In 2011, their “Made in Detroit” commercial featuring Eminem was particularly well received, as was their 2012 Clint Eastwood-narrated “Halftime in America” spot. As a result, many were anxiously waiting to see what the automaker had up its sleeves for this year’s game. Predictably, Chrysler continued the tradition of tugging on the heartstrings of the American public with their fan favorite “Farmer” and “Whole Again” commercials.

Featuring the narration of Oprah Winfrey and opening with her words, “We wait. We hope. We Pray. Until You’re Home Again,” on the screen, Chrysler’s “Whole Again” commercial is an advertisement for their Jeep brand—more specifically—for the partnership between Jeep and the United Service Organizations (USO). Throughout the two minute spot, the commercial depicts military families going about their lives while missing their loved ones who are overseas on active duty. The message Oprah relays is that like military families, the United States, as a nation, will not be whole again until all of our service men and women return home. Until then, however, Jeep—through its partnership with the USO—proudly supports “our nation’s heroes.”

As Chrysler well knows, patriotism is the one emotion that unites like nothing else. In fact, it’s hard to resist a commercial like this—one that celebrates the sacrifices that service families make—especially when those sacrifices are so clearly depicted on screen. The question remains, however, as to whether it’s right to capitalize on these sacrifices. Though it’s easy to forget, Chrysler’s main purpose behind the “Whole Again” commercial is to sell more Jeeps. And while their secondary purpose may very well be to advertise their partnership with the USO or even to give the USO some free publicity, presumably, they’re only doing this to sell more Jeeps as well.

Regardless of Chrysler’s true motivation, for a brief moment, the “Whole Again” commercial brought our attention back to America’s real heroes and away from the athletes who are too often idolized as such. For doing that, and for not featuring a Jeep until at least midway through the ad, we’re thankful and are already looking forward to next year’s Chrysler commercials.

This post was contributed by Brittany Cermak, senior editor at MotorCar.com—the World’s Largest Luxury Car Marketplace.