Jeep Drives 7 of Its Models Across America in 85th Year Campaign

Jeep is using its 85th anniversary to make American identity the heart of its next brand chapter.

"This Is Jeep Country," created with Chicago-based agency Highdive, launched on September 9.

It traces Jeep's origins to its first customer, America.

The campaign runs across television, streaming, digital, social, experiential, and out-of-home media.

Jeep vehicles appear across deserts, forests, mountains, and coastlines in the creative.

The campaign also includes Hispanic and African-American digital extensions.

"From its beginnings in 1941 supporting a nation forged by resilience and determination," Jeep Brand CEO Branden Coté said in a press release.

"The Jeep brand has spent 85 years building vehicles for those who refuse to stand still, back down or be confined by the horizon," 

The brand strategy gives Jeep a cultural idea large enough to connect its past, present, and next generation of vehicles.

The spot gives the anniversary push a more patriotic focus, following January’s "Jeep Things" work.

Owner Footage Across Seven Nameplates

"This Is Jeep Country" frames the brand's 85-year history through the American landscapes and values associated with the brand.

The campaign features the Wrangler, Gladiator, Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Compass, Grand Wagoneer, and all-new Jeep Recon.

Six of the seven are gas or hybrid nameplates with decades of trail history, and the seventh is an EV that launched this year.

The work also features real Jeep owner experiences through user-generated content.

Owner gatherings, trails, and everyday adventures give the brand's community a role in the anniversary story.

Media placements also include NFL and football programming on Disney+, Paramount+, Max, and Peacock.

This approach fits a wider pattern in automotive advertising.

Mercedes-Benz Vans recently put American small business owners at the center of its "Price of Success" Sprinter campaign.

Anniversary work gains reach when the audience supplies part of the footage, because owners validate claims that a scripted spot can't.

Campaigns that hand storytelling duties to customers give the strategy a credibility layer that paid media rarely buys.

#1 Patriotic Brand for 25 Years in America

Jeep enters its 85th anniversary with strong brand recognition around American identity.

Brand Keys ranked Jeep America's most patriotic brand for the 25th consecutive year in 2026.

The survey polled more than 9,720 consumers and assessed 1,200 brands.

Zappi also found that 60% of Americans felt fairly or very strong pride in being American in 2026, while only 16% reported little or no pride.

 A 25-year run on a single value gives Jeep an asset that competitors can't buy inside one campaign cycle.

Brand positioning earned over decades survives leadership changes and product overhauls far better than positioning tied to a single product story.

Jeep's patriotic campaign offers up three useful lessons for marketers:

• Tie heritage to a value people hold now. Brands should audit which legacy associations still hold consumer meaning before spending media against them.
• Ground national themes in real people. Marketers should anchor cultural positioning in lived experience so the claim reads as credible.
• Build one idea with enough range for every channel. Teams should test whether a platform idea holds up in 30 seconds, in a social cutdown, and at an owner event.

Jeep starts from an association with America that most brands would need years and heavy ad spend to manufacture.

Our Take: Can Heritage Keep Jeep Relevant?

Jeep's heritage works as a marketing asset because it attaches to products, places, and owners that people can point at.

We think it holds up, though the timing deserves scrutiny.

Gallup put American pride at a record low this summer, with 53% of adults extremely or very proud to be American.

Jeep is spending against a feeling that fewer people report every year, and it hedges by locating patriotism in owners and landscapes.

The smarter part is putting the electric Recon beside the Wrangler, which lets a 1941 story vouch for a vehicle with no history at all.

Every new nameplate on Jeep's product launch calendar now has a story to borrow.

The anniversary campaign arrives as Stellantis works to strengthen its U.S. brands after years of weaker sales.

Jeep's U.S. sales rose 1% in 2025 to 593,401 vehicles. Wrangler sales increased 11%, and Gladiator sales rose 35%.

Modest growth after six straight years of decline makes the cultural positioning more consequential.

Jeep is using heritage to hold its identity steady while its product portfolio changes around it.

Brands using culture to strengthen their positioning need creative partners that can connect strategy with execution.

Explore these top brand strategy agencies in the DesignRush directory.