For those that don’t know, Groundhog Day (1993) follows a cynical TV weatherman that finds himself reliving the same day over and over again when he goes on location to the small town of Punxsutawney to film a report about their annual Groundhog Day. His predicament drives him to distraction, until he sees a way of turning the situation to his advantage.
During this year’s Super Bowl, Jeep debuted its newest commercial featuring an older Murray once again stuck in his Groundhog Day loop as Phil Connors. Aware of his situation, “Oh no,” Phil says in a panic, “Oh no.” We then transition to the classic scene in which Phil walks down the street and is pestered by overly enthusiastic insurance salesman Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky). As he’s trying to find a way out of this living nightmare of a day, he lays his eyes on a the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator, noting “That’s new” from last time.
Phil proceeds to take Jeep as well as the town’s groundhog and rides off. To his surprise, he’s having a blast with the vehicle. At the end of the day, Phil smiles and happily states “Not a bad day.” From then on, Phil happily wakes up to the same day over and over in where he gets to drive the Jeep Gladiator that, in and of itself, makes every single day feel new, exciting, and satisfying for Phil.
Speaking of satisfying, this commercial definitely hits the nail on the head. Recreating classic movie scenes for the sake of advertisement is often risky business in that fans sometimes hate the products linked to the recreation, especially if poorly executed. In this case, Jeep has nothing to worry about since their commercial was perfectly hilarious.
Featured Image via YouTube.com (Screenshot)
