Bruce Springsteen starred in and narrated a two-minute Super Bowl ad for Jeep, which featured far more Americana and landscape than any vehicles.
Rob DeMartin for Jeep
Jeep says it’s “pausing” its Super Bowl ad starring musician Bruce Springsteen after it became public on Wednesday that he’d been arrested on drunken-driving charges late last year.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of a matter we have only read about and we cannot substantiate,” a Jeep spokeswoman said in a statement to CNBC. “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.”
The arrest was first reported Wednesday by TMZ and was confirmed in a statement from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Springsteen was accused of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and consuming alcohol in a closed area.
The news of the arrest came a few days after Springsteen had starred in the two-minute ad from the Stellantis (formerly Fiat-Chrysler) brand. The commercial urged Americans to come together and meet “in the middle.”
It’s not clear whether the brand even planned to show the ad again on TV, but it appeared to have been set private on its YouTube channel as of Wednesday late afternoon. A spokeswoman for Jeep didn’t immediately say whether the brand had planned to air it again after the game. The automaker has not typically re-aired Super Bowl ads that featured A-list celebrities in the past decade.
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