For nearly 20 years, the Jurassic Park movie franchise has brought dinosaurs to life in a fantastic way. Now, the saga is set to end with Jurassic World Dominion, reaching theaters on June 9. And Jeep is ready for one last ride with the dinos, only this time the dinos aren’t chasing the Wrangler. They’re in it.
That’s the crux of a new global marketing campaign Jeep is launching, in conjunction with what is likely to be one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022. The campaign looks simple enough – a one-minute video features the owner of a new Jeep Wrangler 4xe adopting an orphaned baby dinosaur as a pet. The unwitting dino-dad pledges to protect the baby carnivore, and we’re forced to admit the young dinosaur sleeping in the Wrangler is downright adorable. Then momma shows up to ruin everything.
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You might think this fun video features a baby and mother T-Rex, but you’d be wrong. This particular dinosaur is called Carnotaurus, a real theropod dinosaur that is thought to have lived in the Late Cretaceous period. However, there’s a very limited fossil record of it, and while it’s believed to resemble T-Rex, Carnotaurus has never been digitally recreated. In that respect, Jeep says the Carnotaurus was envisioned and brought to life specifically for this commercial, marking its first-ever appearance pretty much anywhere.
Of course, Jeep would prefer you focus on the Wrangler. Everyone remembers Jeff Goldblum’s character Ian Malcolm from the first film, proclaiming must go faster while escaping an angry T-Rex in the back of a 1992 Jeep Wrangler. Jeep vehicles (and Goldblum) will be featured in Jurassic Park Dominion, and chatting with Motor1.com on the subject, Jeep CEO Christian Meunier said the company is “very keen” on offering special edition Jeeps related to the movie. Whether that leads to actual models people can buy remains to be seen, as Meunier couldn’t confirm anything specific in the pipeline.
“The Jeep brand has substantially expanded in the three decades since the first appearance of the Wrangler in the original Jurassic Park film,” said Meunier. “We have entered into new SUV segments, we have increased our global production footprint and, with the rollout of our 4xe electrified portfolio that includes the Wrangler 4xe, the Jeep brand is developing the most capable and sustainable 4×4 vehicles in the world, satisfying the needs of our expanding global Jeep community.”
Jurassic World Dominion opens in theaters on June 9.
