The idea of using an SUV as a family car was still a fairly novel concept back in 1979. That didn't stop Jeep from singing the praises of their station wagon alternative Cherokee and it's family hauling ability. While conventional two wheel drive station wagons didn't have a chance of making it through squishy roads or rough terrain, as you can see from this vintage advertisement they were no problem for the full size 4x4 Jeep Cherokee.
Even though station wagons were the family-mobiles of choice in the late 70s Jeep was trying to introduce the SUV to the market. Not only was their full sized Cherokee good looking and tough, it didn't have any problems going off road. And what better way to illustrate that point than showing a Cherokee navigating through the rough stuff?
Although we usually expect our truck advertisements to be full of gratuitous vehicle abuse and unnecessary but awesome "feats of strength"-esque demonstrations, in this case a full size Jeep traveling through the rough terrain is close enough. Seeing this old Cherokee climbing through the mud with ease is actually still very effective advertising over three decades later. Whether they are actually useful family vehicles or not, if we had been around in 1979 we would have sincerely considered trading our conventional two wheel drive wagon in for a Full Size Jeep Cherokee.