Everyone who cares about cities is talking about Chrysler’s commercial during the Super Bowl, which was more of a pean to Detroit than to its new car.
Talk about city branding. Chrysler did it by walking toward the truth, speaking honestly to the Motor City’s character and grit, and by authentically defining its determination to face the future with hope.
We could only think of what a commercial for FedEx could be if it put it into the context of Memphis as the place where modern global commerce was born.
Then again, we could just settle for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital acknowledging in its commercials that it’s located here.
Here’s the Chrysler ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKL254Y_jtc
Let’s tell the truth.
Chrysler is not ‘chrysler’ at all. It’s Chrysler LLC which is essentially owned by Cerberus Capital Management.
Chrysler LLC is also partly owned by Fiat.
Cerberus Capital Management = Chrysler LLC. Cerberus is LOCATED in New York city, NOT Detroit.
Fiat is also not based in DETROIT.
The Chrylser HEADquarters building is located in Auburn Hills, Michigan, not the City of Detroit. Auburn Hills, has very little in common with The City of Detroit (e.g. Auburn Hills is over 75% white, and very suburban in character)
Chrysler LLC is owned by NYC
This is Madison Avenue slick marketing at its best. it’s also disingenuous.
Can you imagine the negative blowback for Memphis if it ‘merchandizes’ Memphis TN’ FEDEX using a wiggerRapper ??? or something equally demeaning the city of Memphis ??
Cities, especially the likes of Memphis should never conflate the marketing of a CITY with the marketing of private businesses.
Cities should never attempt to ‘use’ private corporations or concerns to ‘hawk’ the public good/appeal. Corporations can move, relocate, cut back, close down…..officials can get indicted, go to jail etc.
Branding, if necessary (which I contend is hocus-pocus marketing) should be done without connecting the dots to private corporations or even non-profits.
Any one remember “Enron Field” ? “Author Anderson Parkway” ?
Everybody already knows that Detroit is in the rubbish heap, so I don’t blame them for featuring a controversial, loudmouth white-thug rapper to ‘pitch’ the formerly gangsta-thug looking Chyrsler 300 Hemi, in a thug-ridden depressed City of Detroit.
They didn’t have a thing to lose in that sort of base appeal….but I bet you won’t see residents of suburban Auburn Hills MI lining up to buy that advertised vehicle driven by the likes of Eminem, a white-thug Rap Star.
I, for one, thought the Super Bowl commercial was ineffective and might backfire on Chrysler LLC..but the LLC is not a publicly traded business…so who cares
You seem to be in a minority since it’s now gone viral and already is being held up as a brilliant piece of advertising and city branding. There’s no way this backfires on Chrysler for more reasons than we’ll go into here.
The sale of the PRODUCT (i.e. the 300 chrysler itself) to
individuals (not fleet rental sales) shall tell the real
story of effectiveness. Advertisements exist soley to
induce SALES of the product which is the focus, not the
character of Detroit.
Gone viral ? good for Enimem, that’s who really is the
star, and recipient of the hits on the web. Web surfers
aren’t watching the dumb commercial because it alludes
to DETROIT…..lol
He’s the one driving the traffic..duh
btw, the product is a 200 not a 300 Hemi
it will have tremendous competition in that segment..it’s essentially it seems a revamped Sebring which dominated the rental ranks…so will the 200 it seems
Also, the 200 is not made in Detroit, it’s made in Sterling Heights, MI (which is about 90% white suburb, about 1.5% BLACK)
oh yeah, Emeinem, the white rapper featured int he commercial, never lived in DETROIT, he lived in the 90% white suburb of that same STERLING HEIGHTS,MI for a short time in 2000)
How about that for being BOGUS ?
There is no merit in getting Eminem showcasing your product OR your City.
Hopefully Memphis is not that stupid to follow that sort of weak ‘branding’ (well, you never know though)
I can see it now, The Neeleys again on TV with their poor speaking skills, hawking just sum mo’pig, ‘barbara-Q’, down home in “MammFiss”.
Marketing or good commercials on TV and the big game, won’t enhance life (corporate or otherwise) inj Memphis.
Johnny, what we really need is Wm F. Buckley representin’ Memphis. Would his diction be acceptable to you?
Johnny, I agree. Most residents sound pretty bad. You have to be deaf not to agree with that.
…or you could simply be the same poster, now going by the title “Anonymous”.
I could give a couple of ideas about the Memphis ad.
I’d have to know who the target was first.
BK-
I would really like for you to write up your idea, so I will give you a target market for the purpose of your response. If it’s a 2 minute ad, let’s assume you can target three major markets.
Young, educated singles & couples- mid 20’s- mid 30’s, 2-4 year college degrees.
The creative crowd- various ages with primary interests centerd on music, film and art).
Middle, middle class- with a specific focus on ethnic minorities and immigrants.
What are your ideas?
How about a black rapper or asian rapper,or hispanic rapper,with gold grills, driving a mid-eighties bright lime green Impala 4 door sedan jacked up on 22 inch chrome spinner rims, with a ‘gangsta lean’, all the windows down, Jay-Z blaring through the bass-woofas, touting and representin Mammfisse’s barbara-Q sammiches being the best in the wuerl……and the rappers could be wearing their Fedex blue ‘jump suits’ styled by the KANG himself ?
I like it. Now that’s true branding.
How about a black rapper or asian rapper,or hispanic rapper,with gold grills, driving a mid-eighties bright lime green Impala 4 door sedan jacked up on 22 inch chrome spinner rims, with a ‘gangsta lean’, all the windows down, Jay-Z blaring through the bass-woofas, touting and representin Mammfisse’s barbara-Q sammiches being the best in the wuerl……and the rappers could be wearing their Fedex blue ‘jump suits’ styled by the KANG himself ?
I like it. Now that’s true branding.
Anon, shamika, mouse or whoever you choose to call yourself next, your comments, their generally poor taste and weak grasp on the culture and trends of both locally and regionally deserve to be marginalized. The desperately you wax on about your dislike for the community, the more I have come to realize that Memphis must in fact be making the subtle changes necessary to reinvent itself.
Hey, I see that sort of brand every day !
Is it poor taste or is it the truth ? Inquiring minds. Urbanut, what’s your take ? you don’t think that description and branding is accurate ? You need to get out more. Memphis needs to reinvent itself but it’s going to take thirty years.
You’ve been mislead. Subtle changes are not what is needed. You must live in another Memphis.
Out on a daily basis. I however choose not to substitute blind and shallow stereotypes for rational or creative thinking.
Did you know that sterotypes always have truth in them ? they may be shallow, even blind but never without a large dose of truth and accuracy
you sound like a left-leaning elistist full of himself
oh, and if you’re out of a daily bais in Memphis TN, then guess who the one is blind or refuses to acknowledge the obvious around you ?