Jeep’s Super Bowl advertisement featuring Bruce Springsteen and the phrase “the ReUnited States” included a map of the country that was not fully united.
At the close of an ad nodding to a year filled with division and partisanship, the rock singer’s voice urges people to find a middle ground as an incomplete, handmade map of the United States is displayed.
“The middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between red and blue, between servant and citizen, between our freedom and our fear,” Springsteen says in the ad. “Freedom … belongs to us all. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, it’s what connects us, and we need that connection. We need the middle.”
As Springsteen’s voice pleads for unity, a map of the U.S. that notably omits Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the states of Alaska and Hawaii appears on the screen. The map features “to the ReUnited States of America” superimposed over it.
The Middle. pic.twitter.com/dbsgWV35i0
— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) February 8, 2021
A Twitter account purporting to represent Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was not amused by the oversight, pointing to the state’s significance to the automotive industry and Jeep in particular as cause for outrage at the exclusion.
“Michigan’s Upper Peninsula here, do you notice anything missing in your map, perhaps 33% of Michigan?” the account, which has more than 17,000 followers, tweeted at Jeep. “For a company long headquartered in Michigan, I expect better. Please give 906 Jeeps to my residents.”
Hey @Jeep,
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula here, do you notice anything missing in your map, perhaps 33% of Michigan?
For a company long headquartered in Michigan, I expect better. Please give 906 Jeeps to my residents.
Sincerely,
The Upper Peninsula of America#ReUniteTheUP pic.twitter.com/rtQkzQfLYq— Da Upper Peninsula (@UpperPeninsula) February 8, 2021
Pure Michigan, an advertising campaign designed to attract tourism to the Great Lakes state, responded in support of the Upper Peninsula’s tweet, echoing its calls that the region be reunited with the rest of the state.
“Let’s meet in the middle, @Jeep — in the middle of the @UpperPeninsula. Michiganders [heart] Jeeps and the U.P. has some of the best ORV terrain around,” it wrote. “Please #ReUniteTheUP so we are #OnePureMichigan once again.”
Let’s meet in the middle, @Jeep – in the middle of the @UpperPeninsula. Michiganders ❤️ Jeeps and the U.P. has some of the best ORV terrain around.
Please #ReUniteTheUP so we are #OnePureMichigan once again. https://t.co/CKKRGqCx5A
— Pure Michigan (@PureMichigan) February 8, 2021
Stellantis, the company that owns and operates Jeep, told the Washington Examiner in a statement that the map was symbolic and not meant to exclude the more than 300,000 people who call the Upper Peninsula home.
“The image of the United States depicted in the commercial is one taken from an actual stone marker which sits on one of the locations filmed in Kansas, which represents the ‘geographical center of the contiguous 48 states,’” a Jeep spokesperson said. “While the image’s intent was to serve only as symbolic reference for the ‘the middle’ of the country, the wider message of the commercial is intended as inspirational and inclusive for all Americans, including our family, friends and neighbors living in the Upper Peninsula.”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their second Super Bowl, with star quarterback Tom Brady leading them to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
