The other day, I was working in a room where the television played in the background. I wasn't watching, but all of a sudden, I heard this commercial playing. I was riveted, not because I like Jeeps, but because I believe in the powerful message in the commercial. Push the play button, close your eyes, and listen.
I think it's marketing genius, don't you? (Note the World War picture synced with the announcer's mention of Jeep products used in previous war years.) But for the visuals, this could be a commercial for each and every one of my hundreds of IBN members. Of course I hope this ad won't lure anyone who can't afford a Jeep to actually purchase one. But I do hope the message of individual and family empowerment resonates deeply, and repeatedly, in the minds of every American who hears the words:
The things that make us Americans are the things we make. This has always been a nation of builders. Craftsmen. Men and women for whom straight stitches and clean welds are matters of personal pride. They made the sky scrapers and the cotton gins. Colt revolvers. Jeep four by fours. These things make us who we are.
As a people, we do well when we make good things and not so well when we don't. The good news is this can be our right. We just have to do it. And so we did. This, our newest son, was imagined, drawn, carved, stamped, hewn, and forged here, in America. It is well made. And it is designed to work. This was once a country where people made things. Beautiful things. And so it is again.
If that doesn't underscore the urgent need for lawmakers to create a regulatory environment in which America's small manufacturers can thrive on a level playing field, I don't know what does. Learn more about Jeep at their official Twitter page.
Question: What will you do to ensure that you and your children, and future generations, live in a nation where individual and family-owned businesses can live out America's promise to be a nation of people who make things? Beautiful things?
