Condolences are due to all the Abraham Lincolns, Calvin Coolidges, Woodrow Wilsons and even the Barack Obamas of the world, because people with only one especially presidential name have a shot at winning a new car.
That is because Jeep is running a promotion where residents of the United States who are legally named George Washington will receive a free 2026 two-door Jeep Wrangler Sport if (and it’s a big if) Team USA wins the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It is likely to be a safe bet for Stellantis, given that Team USA has never won the World Cup. And, according to the terms and conditions of the sweepstakes, only the first 100 George Washingtons to register with Jeep will qualify for the prize. In case you were wondering, Stellantis’ Chief Marketing Officer, Olivier Francois, told the Detroit Free Press in an interview that his team concluded between 300 and 400 George Washingtons are living in the United States today.
Stellantis is promoting the deal with comedian Iliza Shlesinger, who has become a regular face in Jeep commercials. Previously, Shlesinger starred in a pair of bawdy ads for Jeep, pitching the Grand Wagoneer as the best car in which to have sex.
Now, Schlesinger takes a more patriotic tone, sitting in a regal office with a painting behind her of George Washington crossing the Delaware — in a Jeep Wrangler.
Ad boss explains strategy
According to Francois, the idea to give away Jeeps to Americans named George Washington spawned during conversations with Highdive, a Chicago-based advertising agency that Jeep works with regularly. It was originally going to be a smaller-scale print campaign with flyers posted in U.S. cities that are hosting matches, rather than a TV and social media play, before Francois saw it and knew it had to be bigger.
“It was so good that I said, ‘No, this deserves to be more,’ ” Francois recalled. “Obviously, legal stepped in, rightfully,” he added with a chuckle.
Francois, who has orchestrated some of Stellantis’ (and formerly Fiat-Chrysler’s) most memorable ads, tapped Shlesinger to return as the brand’s ambassador and let her run wild.
According to Francois, the campaign is about emphasizing the off-kilter, patriotic sensibility that most Jeep buyers tend to align with while getting in on the massive audience that the World Cup can garner. Jeep is not the official automotive sponsor of the event, so Francois wanted a way to “crash the party” with a crafty ad campaign.
Francois said he had to do some convincing with the top brass of the company, and after a dinner with Tim Kuniskis, Stellantis’ North American head of marketing (and also the CEO of Ram Trucks), the project was greenlit.
While getting the company to sign off may have been a little difficult, Francois said one of the hardest parts of the campaign was deciding on which president to honor.
“When I found out that there are three to four hundred George Washingtons, I made a joke saying, ‘Is there another president (with a less common name)?’ ” Francois said. “I don’t know how many Thomas Jeffersons there are, and I’m pretty sure there are less Abraham Lincolns.”
Team USA matches up against Australia in Seattle on Friday, June 19, when the George Washingtons of this country — though not the Grover Clevelands or Martin Van Burens — may be rooting with a little extra vigor.
If you’re that type of Washington, go here to register.
Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jeep to give free Wranglers to George Washingtons if U.S. wins World Cup
Reporting by Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
