Jeep didn’t buy a Super Bowl ad. Turns out it didn’t need to.
Instead, the brand dropped “Billy Goes to the River,” a social-first commercial starring Gemmy Industries’ throwback icon Big Mouth Billy Bass and the all-new 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid. The result? The No. 1 automotive ranking in YouTube’s annual AdBlitz competition, beating brands that actually aired during the Big Game.
Overall, the spot landed at No. 5 out of 118 entries, driven by a mix of views, engagement, likes, and shares during Super Bowl week.
The nearly two-minute ad plays like a sweet father-son road trip — until it doesn’t. Built around Billy’s plea to be taken “to the river,” the campaign racked up more than 20 million views and over 246,000 engagements across social platforms in one week.
“Our intentional effort to make a splash during the advertising industry’s biggest week showed that we don’t always need to be in the Big Game to make our brands shine,” said Olivier Francois, global chief marketing officer, Stellantis.
The viral win was strong enough that Jeep is now cutting a 30-second TV version to support the Cherokee hybrid launch.
