Incredible Detroit/Chrysler commercial - Super Bowl

**hybridy** · February-07-11, 11:16 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...=entertainment

"At that point, Eminem steps out of his black Chrysler and enters a Church with a choir singing."

since when is the Fox Theater a church?

**LeannaM** · February-07-11, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by hybridy

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...=entertainment

"At that point, Eminem steps out of his black Chrysler and enters a Church with a choir singing."

since when is the Fox Theater a church?

I knew it was the FOX and to me it did look and sound like a church choir. Just my perception of it, though.

I've never been to Detroit, but I really did like the ad. I thought it was brilliant. I'm sure it brought up some feelings of pride in Detroiters.

I wish a company in my city would make a commercial like that. A-B has probably featured some of STL in the past, but not quite like that commercial did for Detroit.

**mpf** · February-07-11, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by LeannaM

I've never been to Detroit, but I really did like the ad. I thought it was brilliant. I'm sure it brought up some feelings of pride in Detroiters.

What are you waiting for [[visiting)? Gotta check it out, live...

**RedeemerKid** · February-07-11, 11:33 AM

Seems the ad did not poll strongly compared to the rest.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advert...er-chart_N.htm

**cman710** · February-07-11, 11:47 AM

I am not surprised that the ad would rank lower than more traditional, humoorous ads. Also, I bet that this ad played much better in some regions than others. Like I said earlier, I think the ad probably really improved Chrysler's image in Michigan, which is not insignificant. Michigan must be one of the states in which Chrysler has the highest market share. Up here in Massachusetts, you rarely see anyone driving a Chrysler, and I bet the ad did not play well here.

**English** · February-07-11, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by cman710

I am not surprised that the ad would rank lower than more traditional, humoorous ads. Also, I bet that this ad played much better in some regions than others. Like I said earlier, I think the ad probably really improved Chrysler's image in Michigan, which is not insignificant. Michigan must be one of the states in which Chrysler has the highest market share. Up here in Massachusetts, you rarely see anyone driving a Chrysler, and I bet the ad did not play well here.

I think the ad might not have seemed significant to those who aren't really familiar with Detroit landmarks or who don't have ties here. Some folks on blogs said they didn't know it was Detroit until either 1) Eminem's rap from 8 Mile began or 2) Eminem actually said "Motor City." I think it united the Detroit and Michigan diaspora all over the country -- so although it wasn't a public service ad, in some ways, it served that function.

**RedeemerKid** · February-07-11, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by English

I think the ad might not have seemed significant to those who aren't really familiar with Detroit landmarks or who don't have ties here. Some folks on blogs said they didn't know it was Detroit until either 1) Eminem's rap from 8 Mile began or 2) Eminem actually said "Motor City." I think it united the Detroit and Michigan diaspora all over the country -- so although it wasn't a public service ad, in some ways, it served that function.

Yep. Great ad, received extremely well in the Detroit area, and by people familiar with Detroit. But received not nearly as well elsewhere. I am however surprised by how low it rated in that poll.

**English** · February-07-11, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by RedeemerKid

Yep. Great ad, received extremely well in the Detroit area, and by people familiar with Detroit. But received not nearly as well elsewhere. I am however surprised by how low it rated in that poll.

^I hear you, but honestly, I am not surprised. Remember we are dealing with 50 years of negative perceptions, many of which continue [[rightfully, some would say). The ad wasn't funny and didn't have any animals or pop culture icons, so your average middle American just wouldn't get it.

**RedeemerKid** · February-07-11, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by cman710

I am not surprised that the ad would rank lower than more traditional, humoorous ads. Also, I bet that this ad played much better in some regions than others. Like I said earlier, I think the ad probably really improved Chrysler's image in Michigan, which is not insignificant. Michigan must be one of the states in which Chrysler has the highest market share. Up here in Massachusetts, you rarely see anyone driving a Chrysler, and I bet the ad did not play well here.

I figured it would rate higher than it did in that poll. Obviously, outside of the Detroit area it would rate lower that it would from within the Detroit area. But I am surprised at how far down the list it landed.

**English** · February-07-11, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by RedeemerKid

Seems the ad did not poll strongly compared to the rest.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advert...er-chart_N.htm

"USA TODAY assembled 282 adult volunteers in Bakersfield, Calif., and McLean, Va., and electronically charted their second-by-second reactions to ads during the Super Bowl. Shugoll Research and Trotta Associates chose the volunteers, who used handheld meters to register how much they liked each ad. A computer continuously averaged the scores. Scores are the highest average for each ad."

**rhythmc** · February-07-11, 11:53 AM

I thought the ad was great. Makes me wonder what sorts of biases existed in the groups polled in the USA Today article.

bartock · February-07-11, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by rhythmc

I thought the ad was great. Makes me wonder what sorts of biases existed in the groups polled in the USA Today article.

Most everything I've seen is praise for the commercial and on "best of" Super Bowl ad lists. USA Today's experiment with 282 "volunteers" from Virginia and California would probably have statistics people shaking their heads. Not exactly a reliable study, I would guess.

**MCP-001** · February-07-11, 12:20 PM

In a word: meh!

Why anyone thinks a Minneapolis-based agency with no local presence can do any D3 companies justice is beyond me.

Until Pres. B.O. took over the Chrysler Corp, there were a large number local ad agencies who did handle producing these spots, and did a damn good job of it.

My two main issues with the spot itself:

What was the point of the Detroit travelogue? It's not even made there, it's cranked out in Sterling Heights [[SHAP).

And using Eminem to plug a [[relatively) high end car model?!?

I don't see any monied people stampeding to their nearest Chrysler Dealer to order one because of that.

**d'oh** · February-07-11, 12:22 PM

HTML Code:

since when is the Fox Theater a church?

In the commercial it looks like one, but that is a dumb faux pas on the newscaster's part.....

HTML Code:

Seems the ad did not poll strongly compared to the rest. 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/advert...er-chart_N.htm

EFF the USA Today ad poll; the ad got a lot of play, and high praise, on all the national morning news and talk shows, like "Morning Joe", "The View", etc..
That thing is a masterpiece....

**fryar** · February-07-11, 12:42 PM

It's not a church, they just don't know Detroit.

To pick up on some the quibbles here, Chrysler is arguably hardly American, *despite* the taxpayer-funded bailout. So what do you do, if you're Chrysler? Make an ad that tries to brand you as American.

Addressing ruin porn could have been an after-thought entirely.

The ad not "performing" as well nationally as it did locally conforms to one of my 2 cents on issues like ruin porn and outside journalists or authors chronicling Detroit's ills: One can hardly say that everybody knows what's up in Detroit. Hardly everyone reads Time Magazine [[sorry, Time). Not everybody, certainly. In my opinion, the majority of Americans are "blissfully unaware."

Just as outsiders are unlikely to "get" any distinction between Auburn Hills and Detroit, they are unable to "get" the whole tough steel is forged in hot flames line, for example. Some of the meaning is a bit like an inside joke; outsiders just aren't going to get it.

Perhaps it's confusing. "My parents stopped buying Detroit-made cars 30 years ago, through a litany of safety and quality issues, they haven't looked back, and I drove a Camry in high school that served me fine...the Prius was great, there's progress for ya...and you give me Eminem, with a choir, in some weird theater [[hey, it is anachronistic). What's your pitch exactly?"

There's a whole frame of reference that many people don't have.

I still like GM's Howie Long commercials, in this light. It just addresses the actual perceptions in a straight-forward, confident manner.

Normal people don't know that you can live a block from GM's world headquarters and cruise past burnt out buildings and shells of homes on the way to the most proximate dry cleaner.

**iheartthed** · February-07-11, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by fryar

The ad not "performing" as well nationally as it did locally conforms to one of my 2 cents on issues like ruin porn and outside journalists or authors chronicling Detroit's ills: One can hardly say that everybody knows what's up in Detroit. Hardly everyone reads Time Magazine [[sorry, Time). Not everybody, certainly. In my opinion, the majority of Americans are "blissfully unaware."

I'm skimming so I may have missed it, but where did you see that the ad was not well-received nationally?

**Scottathew** · February-07-11, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I'm skimming so I may have missed it, but where did you see that the ad was not well-received nationally?

Some people are quoting a USA Today rating that was based off of a focus group in California. Not quite "national" in my opinion.

Front page on CNN, I'd call that doing well nationally.
In MSNBC's ad poll it's the highest rated ad.

**iheartthed** · February-07-11, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by 48091

Some people are quoting a USA Today rating that was based off of a focus group in California. Not quite "national" in my opinion.

Front page on CNN, I'd call that doing well nationally.
In MSNBC's ad poll it's the highest rated ad.

Yeah, my Facebook feed is populated by a good amount of people who have never set foot in Metro Detroit and 99% of the comments about that spot were positive. Just thought I might have missed something...

**xD_Brklyn** · February-07-11, 01:13 PM

Impressive. As mentioned,

when I suddenly saw Marathon and the crane rental sign.

Yeah, with the first shots of this ad I was saying to myself "This is Detroit" then the commercial unfolded with more shots of Detroit and my disbelief just ascended as the commercial continued. The element of surprise played a big part in my take of this video. Social commentary in a Super Bowl ad? A travelogue of Detroit on Super Sunday? It was a stunning out-of-the-norm advertisement. Congrats to all involved.

**Scottathew** · February-07-11, 12:32 PM

Was the ad effective? Let's take a look:

"Chrysler 200" scored as the top search in Google on Monday morning due largely to a gritty commercial featuring Eminem and his hometown ode, "Lose Yourself."

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/07...umbles/?hpt=C1

**dookie joe** · February-08-11, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by 48091

Was the ad effective? Let's take a look:

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/07...umbles/?hpt=C1

People forget that Google is a for-profit company, and this is a very dangerous precedent.

The article says this:

"Chrysler 200" scored as the top search in Google on Monday morning due largely to a gritty commercial featuring Eminem and his hit "Lose Yourself."

How do we know Chrysler didn't pay Google to figure out a way to make their product be the most-searched item? Companies pay Google to do that sort of thing, you know.

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it. Maybe for two minutes Monday morning, when a bunch of Google employees were instructed to search for "Chrysler 200," it was the most-searched item.

But common sense: Think of all the people both in the US and across the world who were likely searching for "blonde milfs."

As I said, people's attitude toward Google is setting a dangerous precedent. A whole lot of folks think if something doesn't exist on Google -- if I can't provide a link -- then it never existed. Keeping in mind that Google is a FOR PROFIT COMPANY, that's goddamned scary.

**Islandman** · February-07-11, 12:34 PM

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...troiters-think

Pretty passive aggressive:..

Toby Barlow, Detroit booster and executive vice president and chief creative officer at Dearborn-based Team Detroit, Ford Motor Co.'s ad agency: "I'm always happy to see positive stories about Detroit, and I think it's awesome that Eminem has made a point of taking a stand for this town. It was an attempt to be something noble and grand. We could use more of those kinds of gestures around here.

"That said, I wasn't quite sure how that was an ad for the car."

**Ray1936** · February-07-11, 12:35 PM

I wish there was some way that Lowell could print out all the comments in this thread and send 'em to Chrysler and their ad agency.

Even the Associated Press column in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal praised the ad as one of the best of the lot.

**Crystal** · February-07-11, 12:57 PM

A beautiful piece, I watched it four or five times this morning. FB friends from all over the country are praising it as well. Made me think of Brian Vander Ark's "This Time":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHSykHU4WmI