The Terminator is a hugely successful movie franchise starring Arnold Schwarzenegger that launched in 1984 - a decade when print was still king. In the movie, Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, drives an ‘83 Jeep - now famously attached to her character. In 2019, Terminator: Dark Fate was set to be released with Linda reprising her role as Sarah Connor for the first time in nearly three decades. Jeep partnered with Terminator: Dark Fate to make a promotion built on the existing connection between the brand and the movie.

When the first Terminator film came out in 1984 and original fans fell head over heels in love with the franchise, newspapers were still tucked under the arm of almost everyone. Fast forward to 2019 and release of Terminator: Dark Fate. Those same fans had waited nearly three decades to see Linda Hamilton reprise her role as Sarah Connor. So what better way to get their attention than with a promotion leveraging the media many of them still used every single day - the newspaper. As a print first piece in major newspapers across the country, we targeted fans where we knew their eyes would be, drumming up excitement for the movie and the Jeep brand. When people called the number at the bottom of the ad Sarah Connor’s (Linda Hamiliton) real voicemail gave them a chance to win tickets to the movie premiere by entering the sweepstakes at terminatorjeepwrangler.com.

At the height of the build up to the release of Terminator: Dark Fate a classifieds ad appeared in newspapers across the country doing the unthinkable. The ad, penned by the movie’s heroine, Sarah Connor, was selling the ‘83 Jeep. When fans and curious callers dialed the number on the ad, they got Sarah’s voicemail explaining that “something big was coming” - which teased the movie - and that she’d have to hold onto the only machine she ever trusted... her Jeep. Instead, she gave them a chance to win tickets to the red carpet premiere of the movie in Hollywood. People called and better yet, posted pictures of the classifieds ad online. From the release of the ad to the end of the promotion, fans had just 72 hours to enter. In that time print became social and Jeep connected the past to the future... just like the movie.

In 72 hours we:

- Reached more than 72 million people

- Received more than 10,000 calls to Sara Connor’s number on the print

- More than 5,000 sweepstakes entries

- More than 1.8K Jeep opt-ins

- 1.6 million organic impressions

- 52.5K engagements on social channels

- Authentic brand connection with Terminator and Jeep fans