The Jamaican reggae icons Shaggy and Marcia Griffiths were featured in an ad for the automobile manufacturer Jeep that aired at the 2023 staging of the Super Bowl. The one-minute-long commercial uses a remix of Griffith’s 1983 hit “Electric Boogie,” which she originally recorded with Bunny Wailer who wrote and produced the original track.
Jeep contacted Shaggy to make a remix of “Electric Boogie” for the ad, and the new version, which became available for streaming on February 12, 2023, Super Bowl Sunday, shows Griffiths and Shaggy recording the song in a studio in Jamaica and includes the vocals of three emerging artists Jamila Falak, Amber Lee, and Moyann. The commercial promotes the electric vehicles manufactured by Jeep and shows different kinds of animals dancing to “Electric Boogie.”
Olivier Francois, the global head of marketing at Stellantis, a multinational firm that handles the design, development, manufacture, and sale of 16 brands of automobiles, including Jeep, emphasized the importance of authenticity as an element of the Jeep brand. Francois added that Jeep views the commercial as an extension of its “Earth Odyssey” ad, which shows the Jeep 4xe vehicles and animal species getting into a rhythm with nature.
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Therefore, the firm wanted to release the modern version of “Electric Boogie” with Marcia Griffiths, a member of the ITHrees backup group for The Wailers, whose recording of the song some 40 years ago had an enormous impact on popular culture. The song was written by legendary reggae musician Bunny Wailer in the 1970s, but the best-known version came from Griffiths in 1983. She remixed the song in 1990, and it hit the top of the charts and became one of her biggest hits.
The Jeep commercial was not the first Super Bowl promotion developed by Shaggy. He previously reimagined his major hit recording “It Wasn’t Me” for a Cheetos Crunch Pop commercial that debuted at the 2021 Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl, the final game of the United States National Football League (NFL), is one of the biggest broadcast events in the world. Its popularity derives in part from its half-time show, which features the top acts from the US entertainment industry. The commercials designed to air during the Super Bowl are typically very innovative and attract many viewers to the game as well. The cost of a 30-second ad during the game is reportedly more than US$7 million.
Photo – Stellantis Media
