Did the Eminem commercial during the Super Bowl get you on your feet rooting for the most downtrodden city in America? (And, oh yeah – there was the Chrysler 200 in that ad too.)
Well, Chrysler wants you to keep cheering for its new model and its hometown. The automaker has just revealed a series of videos that takes the brand further into cheerleading for Detroit to reinforce its “Imported from Detroit” campaign.
These videos aren't TV commercials, just for the web — specifically, Chrysler's website. “All of these videos are intended for use on the Chrysler brand site,” a Chrysler spokeswoman told brandchannel. “They will not be extended to future advertising purposes.”
Unlike the highly praised Super Bowl spot, there is no Eminem soundtrack to accompany the Detroit boosterism; reportedly, Chrysler has been negotiating with him to leverage his personal brand further for the cause.
Under the rubric “Believe,” these videos instead highlight local heroes who are helping Detroit’s comeback bid and a newly assembled band from the Motor City called The American Secrets, along with iconic images of and from Detroit akin to those in the Eminem spot that Chrysler calls “Born of Fire.”
“We Believe in Detroit,” opens the shortest video — which, at 52 seconds in length, would be most adaptable as a TV ad. Intercut with images of the 200, the spot features the triumphs and struggles of Alissa Czisny, a national champion figure skater from a Detroit area that actually breeds many top-flight participants in the sport; Rowland Bell, a suburban cop who was born in Detroit; and Larry Callahan, founding director of the city’s Selected of God choir.
“I want people to see Detroit as a place of healing,” Pastor Callahan says in the video, "a place of reconstruction, a place of hope, and a place of life."
The other spots are longer-form videos focusing on Czisny and her perseverance, Bell and his dedication, and The American Secrets. The band is about “what Detroit really does have to offer that America has overlooked over these last 30 years,” says one member in a video that was shot at the recent South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
“There’s a movement of everyone in Detroit binding together ... We have a lot to offer and a lot to show you guys. “We’re in the process of starting something special. We really believe we’re going to turn the corner here soon if everyone can stick together.” Another band member allows, “The stigma Detroit has is that it’s the armpit of America .. .[but] the ‘Imported from Detroit’ concept actually gets the truth out there to people."
“When the [Super Bowl] ad came on, I was jumping up and down and doing fist pumps,” he continues. “I’m dead serious. Detroit is awesome, and I’m sick of the media slanting it. “Now is the time, dude.”
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