A manifesto is a declaration of intentions, motives or abilities, as they are seen by the ones making the claims. Most of the commercials out there, regardless of what they advertise, are manifestos. Jeep's Wrangler Super Bowl ad is supposed to be the precisely opposite: nobody would tell you how great the machine is, the machine itself would show it to you.
The video is grandiose. It shows the Wrangler in its natural element, coming out of the woods and thrusting head-on into a lake, throbbing violently as the water gets as high as its headlights. It soon embraces the lake bank, climbing it as if it were a mere pebble on the tarmac and then heading off courageously towards a tiny waterfall to conquer it as well.
The video, if you do not read the fine print, is supposed to portray an off-the-shelf Wrangler, with a throaty voice narrating its adventures in the wild. Not saying, but doing. Not promising, but showing. No grandiose speeches, no big declarations, no big truths.
“When you make the most capable Jeep Wrangler ever, you could talk about it, or you could just let it speak for itself,” says Jeep.
Of course, the Wrangler is not off-the-shelf. It uses aftermarket accessories and has optional features that permit it to show off the way it does in the 40-seconds clip. And it does so not in the real wild but a closed, human-made lake and waterfall. A controlled environment, if you like.
The 2018 Wrangler was introduced at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show last year. It is equipped with the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine (a 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 as well as a hybrid powertrain are in the works for 2019 and 2020, respectively) and a six-speed manual transmission.
In the U.S., the Wrangler retails starting at $26,995 excluding the destination charge ($1,195).
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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