Bill Murray is revisiting one of his most iconic big-screen hits in a new Super Bowl commercial for the Jeep Gladiator.
The spot begins with the infamous “Groundhog Day” clock radio clicking over to 6 a.m., with Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” blaring from the speaker. A sleeping Murray bolts up in bed. “Oh no…” he says.
The next shot features Murray’s “Groundhog Day” character, weatherman Phil Connors, strolling down the snowy streets of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, when, as always, he encounters obnoxious Ned Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky, reprising his role from the 1993 comedy).
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Panicked, Phil scans around in search of escape — and sees a Jeep Gladiator parked on the street. Grabbing groundhog Punxsutawney from the mayor (Murray’s older, Brian Doyle-Murray, also reprising his role), he takes off in the shiny new vehicle.
This is followed by a brief montage of Phil repeatedly waking up, stealing the Jeep and driving happily away each time.
He then pulls over in front of a farmer, who warns of the windowless Jeep, “You’ll freeze to death.” Phil, knowing that even if he dies he’ll just wake up the next morning anyhow, cheerily responds, “Who cares? See you tomorrow.”
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“It’s ‘Groundhog Day’ all over again as Jeep brand debuts a Big Game spot starring Bill Murray (in his first-ever national television commercial),” says the automobile manufacturer of its Super Bowl spot. “But this time reliving the same day over and over again is always a new adventure when you’re driving the 2020 Jeep Gladiator.”
