May 10, 2004 (Woodstock, Ontario) – To encourage and support a healthy outdoor lifestyle, Jeep is the presenting sponsor of the inaugural Great Canadian Outdoor Expo – Canada's first and only “outdoor-outdoor” expo to be held from June 11 to 13, 2004 in Woodstock, Ontario. There will be a Jeep exhibit area and off-road test track where customers will have a chance to drive a Jeep. The exhibit is situated on the south end of the 50-acre Expo site.
Other feature areas at the Great Canadian Outdoor Expo include: the Backyard Expo, Camping Expo, Cottage Expo, Gardening Expo, Golf & Games Expo, Hully Gully the Ultimate Toy Store Water Expo, Kubota Wheels Expo, Maple Lodge Farms Food Expo, Outdoor Pet Expo and the Shimano Sportsmen Expo. Visitors of all ages will have a unique opportunity to test out equipment and gear, in a real-life setting.
“Jeep is introducing two new vehicles this year with Jeep TJ Unlimited and Jeep Grand Cherokee, so we wanted to get them into the hands of consumers who can appreciate their abilities such as those at the Great Canadian Outdoor Expo,” said Ron Smith, Vice President, Marketing, DaimlerChrysler Canada. “People will see for themselves that a Jeep really can go anywhere and do anything – whether you're using it to off-road with your friends or to drive downtown for a night on the town. In addition, Expo attendees will have a blast behind the wheel of our Jeep vehicles as they test their driving skills.”
To educate consumers about off-road driving safety and to demonstrate how fun it is, Jeep has planned three entertaining, skill-testing events especially for the Expo. One of them will be the Teeter-Totter. Just like it sounds, participants at this event can test their driving skills as they drive a Jeep onto an oversized Teeter-Totter in an attempt to achieve the perfect balance. This exercise helps drivers better understand the centre point of their vehicle.
Another event, designed to support the message that drivers should not off-road alone, is the Blindfolded Driver Contest. In this event, the driver of the vehicle is literally blindfolded as the passenger directs the driver through a series of pylons, with various obstacles set up along the way. The Reverse Steering Course is the third event planned by Jeep and it promises to be just as fun to watch as it is to participate in. In this amusing test of dexterity, visitors will have a chance to drive in a Jeep TJ that has had its steering purposely reversed. If the driver turns the wheel left, the vehicle turns right. The driver must complete the course without knocking over any of the obstacles to win.