Time narrows your options and forecloses on your freedom. But in a Jeep Cherokee, at least, you can feel young again—your opportunities as limitless as the sky above the open road.
That's the gist of a new anthem spot by Wieden + Kennedy in Shanghai for the 2014 Cherokee. Unveiled Monday, the 60-second commercial, set to Bob Dylan's 1962 track "Motherless Children," carries the new theme "Built free"—referring to car and driver both.
"There was something to be found in everything," the voiceover says of your hungry, carefree days. "And little by little it changed. People told you things. Where to go. What to do. What not to do. Little by little, the world started to feel smaller. Only … it isn't. You're still here. And you're still you. The horizons haven't gone anywhere."
The visuals mix in shots of the Cherokee with a buffet of freedom imagery—deserts, rivers, oceans, mountains and plenty of that open road.
"The Jeep brand has a rich history steeped in the unrelenting pursuit of freedom," Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer of Chrysler Group, said in a statement. "The return of Jeep Cherokee and the 'Built Free' campaign serves as a reminder that we can fulfill our daily responsibilities and still follow our innate desire to explore new and different experiences."
"The return of the Cherokee nameplate to the Jeep brand brings with it the opportunity for consumers to experience an exciting vehicle that will move the midsize SUV segment forward," said Mike Manley, president and CEO of Jeep Brand. "Whatever path consumers choose to follow, they can be assured that the all-new Jeep Cherokee will provide them with the craftsmanship, technology, safety, ride and handling and efficiency that modern living requires."
The anthem spot will air across national broadcast and cable television, and the campaign includes in-theater, print, digital, social and experiential extensions. A 30-second spot will begin running across broadcast and cable on Nov. 11.