Brain's Favorite Super Bowl Commercial

The Boss doesn't do Super Bowl commercials. Well, at least he hadn't until yesterday. Bruce Springsteen showed up on my television last night in one of the more thought provoking and emotional commercials of Super Bowl Sunday. The Chief Marketing Officer with Jeep had been after him for a decade. It turns out it was worth the wait.

The commercial, nearly 2 minutes in length, opens at the U.S. Center Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas. The exact center of the lower 48 states. It's no wonder this commercial is called 'The Middle'. The geography lesson is obviously a metaphor about the middle politically. The center, if you will. Springsteen describes it as a "hard place to get to lately." Isn't that the truth.

The thing that struck me about this spot was the lack of the product that it was trying to sell. Only a couple of Jeep vehicles even show up in the commercial. But that isn't the point. That point becomes clear towards the end of the commercial when The Boss says that "our light has always found its way through the darkness." The ads parting message? To the ReUnited States of America.

Yes, I'm a big Springsteen fan, so this spot was a big winner for me. But how could you now appreciate the message? No, it won't be easy, and the road will be tough. But we can meet in the middle again and make our country a better place.