Die Hard Gets a Jumpstart

Is there a more powerful marketing tool than nostalgia? Yes, it’s sex, but that is not always appropriate to advertise a product. Nostalgia, however, is a popular marketing tool because it uses fond memories of the past to inspire motivation to buy today. A perfect example of this is the latest commercial released by Advance Auto Parts. It cranks up the nostalgia up to eleven by bringing back one of the original blockbuster action heroes, John “Yippy-kai-yay” McClane! 

McClane is back to the digital screen to promote DieHard batteries (get it). Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long. I can’t be the only one who thought of Die Hard when they saw DieHard batteries at the local auto part store.

See the ad for yourself on Advanced Auto Part’s YouTube channel. The description for the video ends with the line, “McClane will stop at nothing, to start his car again.” 

This commercial stars Bruce Willis as seasoned retired badass John McClane talking to himself once again when his second-gen Chevrolet Nova fails to start due to a dead battery. Upon making his way to the local Advanced Auto Parts store, McClane is suddenly surrounded by familiar foes, including white sweater wearing, “the quarterback is toast!”, computer hacker Theo (Clarence Gilyard). Probably freshly released from prison and seeking revenge. 

His only means of escape is to get his hands on a DieHard car battery. One plate glass window and air vent crawl later McClane suddenly runs-into, or ran over, by an old friend Argyle (De’voreaux White), who is still rolling-heavy in a black 1986 Lincoln Town Car stretched limo and wearing oversized sunglasses. 

The two flee the scene before being T-boned by a Humvee. They manage to get back to McClane’s Nova just as the bad guys arrive. Argyle gets behind the wheel as McClane drops in the DieHard battery that also refuses to die-hard after taking a bullet. The two men drive off, but not before McClane tosses a live grenade into the cab of the excavator. The commercial ends in an explosion giving us that late 80s early 90s fireball we all remember fondly in an era before streaming. 

Will this motivate fans to make another Die Hard film? According to Comicbook, the last time we heard talks of another movie in the franchise was 2018. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura talked about a sixth film titled McClane with suggestions that the film would explore McClane’s character in his 20s, with Bruce Wills supposedly being involved in the project. However, this idea was lost in the shuffle when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox.

Will Disney produce another Die Hard film? It is entirely possible, considering this is the era of the reboot. Where there is nostalgia to be had, there is money to be made. 

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