The Jeep_® Brand's 'Billy Goes to the River' Takes the No. 1 Automotive Spot on the YouTube AdBlitz Leaderboard

February 17, 2026, Auburn Hills, Mich. — The Jeep_® Brand's social media commercial starring Big Mouth Billy Bass^® and the All-New 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid was named the No. 1 automotive commercial on the annual YouTube AdBlitz contest. Overall, "Billy Goes to the River" placed at No. 5 among the 118 videos on the 2026 YouTube AdBlitz board based on a combination of views, engagement, likes and shares.

Per YouTube, “every year, people turn to YouTube to rewatch and share their favorite highlights surrounding the Big Game, especially the ads. To celebrate the best brands breaking through, we host a competition for the top performing commercials on AdBlitz, our Big Game ads and teasers hub. The list is based on a combination of views and engagements from February 1 through 12 at midnight ET, highlighting both in-game and digital-first advertisers.”

The No. 1 automotive ranking for the Jeep Brand, featuring the All-New 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid, bested the efforts of the three automotive brands advertising in the Big Game.

The spot, called “Billy Goes to the River,” cast its fishing line into the social media waters during the advertising industry’s biggest week, looking to catch the prize for the “best Big Game commercial that’s not in the Big Game.” The commercial takes viewers on what starts as a sweet father-son drive when the young boy innocently seeks to fulfill Billy’s request to “take (him) to the river,” and it ends with far (far) less than expected results.

"Our intentional effort to make a splash during the advertising industry’s biggest week showed that we don’t always need to be in the Big Game to make our brands shine," said Olivier Francois, global chief marketing officer, Stellantis. “With powerful creative behind the highly anticipated All-New 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid, audiences were hooked by 'Billy Goes to the River,' outperforming even the automotive brands that played inside both the Big Game’s television and social media channel arenas.

“In fact, the video has been so well-received that we’re rolling it out across television as a 30-second commercial to support the launch campaign for the All-New 2026 Jeep Cherokee.”

The almost two-minute "Billy Goes to the River" commercial for the All-New 2026 Jeep Cherokee hybrid has been viewed more than 20 million times across the Jeep Brand's social media channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, and saw 78,000 combined shares across those channels, driving 246,000 engagements consisting of 159,000 reactions, 8,900 comments and 78,000 shares. *𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 4 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘍𝘦𝘣. 11, 2026.

“Billy Goes to the River” was created by the Jeep Brand in partnership with Chicago-based agency Highdive, also behind one of the Jeep Brand’s recent social media hits for the Grand Wagoneer, “The Family SUV,” starring comedian Iliza Shlesinger.

Big Mouth Billy Bass is a registered trademark of Gemmy Industries Corporation.