As Stellantis Global Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois was plotting a 2023 Super Bowl ad, he put a call into Shaggy. “They were doing the ‘Electric Boogie’ for their new electric Jeep,” said the reggae superstar, referencing the 1980s dance music hit. “And I think he realized how culturally right he had to get it and got in touch with me about it and just asked me if I would get involved.”
Not only did Shaggy say yes, but he ended up collaborating on a remake with fellow Jamaican Marcia Griffiths, whose 1983 version of “Electric Boogie” propelled the song into widespread popularity, including as the soundtrack for the “Electric Side” line dance that is frequently performed at weddings.
While the duo does not appear in the ad—which was released today ahead of the game—their vocals power the spot, which features elephants, giraffes, meerkats, a walrus, a snake and a sloth dancing alongside two electric Jeeps—the Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe. Shaggy and Griffiths are joined on the track by up-and-coming music artists Jamila Falak, Amber Lee and Moyann, a singer who has been described as “the next big” thing in the Jamaican music genre known as dancehall.