In the few seconds after Chrysler’s commercial ended, sometime during the third quarter of Super Bowl XLV this past Sunday, my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.
Tweets, texts, emails from friends and family exclaiming: “Did you just see that?!?” It was quite the two minutes and two minutes that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Chrysler’s commercial, featuring it’s new 200 sedan and hometown rapper Eminem, was more than just a commercial; it was a battle cry, a call to action to rally the troops to show ‘em what were made of.
Not to say that I was shocked at the response the commercial received or how quickly it spread like wildfire on my Twitter feed and Tumblr dashboard, but I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that it caught more than just our attention here in Detroit.
Yes, perhaps it was the Packers that ultimately proved victorious Sunday night, but the real winner was Detroit.
You see the commercial, at least for us here in Michigan, only reaffirmed what we all already knew: Detroit’s on it’s way back and we’ve just simply been doing what we do here for a while now. But finally, the rest of the nation caught a glimpse of that.
The Chrysler spot did something that most other Super Bowl commercials fail to do. While most take the humor route to grab people’s attention and get them talking, Chrysler instead chose to tug at our heartstrings. But it is the almost storybook-like parallels between Chrysler and the city of Detroit that are hardest to ignore and what ultimately make the spot so successful in conjuring up deep emotion.
A company, who not too long was written off for dead, a company that had lost it’s way a long time ago and had no perceived hope of digging its way out the hole to restore its once former glory. And then of course a city, that not too long ago was written off for dead, a city that had lost it’s way…well you get the picture.
Chrysler no doubt took a risk aligning itself with a city that, at least to the rest of the nation and even some still here in the mitten state, has far more baggage, bad publicity, and often-distorted reputation than one cares to stomach. But they did it anyway, and it paid off tremendously.
The commercial, if anything marks the unofficial beginning of what will be the comeback story of the 21st century. The story of an American manufacturing company and an entire industry really, and the comeback story of a city that has gone “to hell and back” partly because of that very industry that has called it home since the very beginning.
Detroit has found a new anthem thanks to Chrysler. Granted I’ve been doing it all along, but the reaction to Chrysler’s commercial only proved that it truly is becoming cool again to love Detroit and to love what it represents. I’ve always been proud of just how much pride Detroiters have. Most people don’t understand it or where it comes from, but it’s relentless and Sunday night it was on display for all of America to see.
Keep Detroit Beautiful.
The buzz around the city and the nation:
Rochelle Riley in the Detroit Free Press: Now the world knows true Detroit story
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams: Chrysler comeback ad makes Super Bowl splash
The Detroit News: Chrysler scores hit with risky ad
