Opinion: Chrysler’s Eminem Super Bowl commercial advertises Detroit with wrong car [w/video] *UPDATE

Filed under: Sedan, Marketing/Advertising, Chrysler, Celebrities

Chrysler Super Bowl ad with Eminem – Click above to watch video after the jump

It took guts on many levels. Chrysler created a two-minute ad for the Super Bowl in just the last couple of weeks to promote its new 200 sedan. Cost: About $10 million give or take.

The ad, starring Eminem and showing scenes and sites of Detroit that many outside Southeast Michigan won’t even recognize, is a love-letter to the city of Detroit as much as an introduction of a new risky ad tagline for the brand: “Imported from Detroit.”

It’s unlikely that any car company has ever used “Detroit” in an ad slogan. It is even more unlikely that any company would think about it now given the awful image the city has not only in the rest of the country, but even within the state of Michigan.

The ad and the strategy is the work, ironically, of Portland, Oregon-based ad agency Wieden & Kennedy, which is perhaps best known for its long-running Nike work, as well as work for Coca-Cola. It is also the brainchild of Chrysler chief marketing officer Olivier Francois, who also holds the title of CEO of Chrysler brand.

Click through the jump to watch the video and to continue reading…

Gallery: 2011 Chrysler 200: First Drive