- Edmunds.com reports that traffic for the Chrysler brand overall shot up on its site in the hours after Eminem's "Imported From Detroit" Super Bowl commercial ran on Sunday.
- But the ad is generating its share of controversy, including a rant from guest host Mark Steyn on Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio show on Monday.
- Steyn said that the "slick, high-style ad takes $9 million of taxpayer money to tell us a ruined city...is the model for America in the 21st century."
SANTA MONICA, California — Edmunds.com said Chrysler's Super Bowl ad, a gritty portrayal of the Motor City featuring Eminem and the Chrysler 200, triggered a "significant" spike in traffic on its Web site in the hours after the commercial aired. But the two-minute "Imported From Detroit" ad is also generating plenty of controversy, including a nasty rant from a guest host on the Rush Limbaugh show on Monday.
Edmunds.com said that site traffic for Chrysler, Volkswagen and Chevrolet "saw the most significant spikes after their ads ran during Super Bowl XLV. The traffic spikes represent important returns on investment for companies that reportedly spent as much as $3 million on a 30-second ad spot during the big game."
"Traffic for the Chrysler brand overall shot up 267 percent on Edmunds.com in the hours after the commercial aired, including a 1,619-percent spike for the Chrysler 200," said Edmunds.com in a statement.
But the Chrysler ad — which not only hawks the Chrysler 200 but is an ode to the redemption of American industry — is clearly polarizing.
Mark Steyn, the guest host on Monday's Rush Limbaugh show, said the "slick, high-style ad takes $9 million of taxpayer money to tell us a ruined city...is the model for America in the 21st century."
He also referred to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne's verbal misstep over the weekend in describing the "shyster" interest rates on federal bailout loans. Steyn described American taxpayers as "loan sharks" or underworld usurers in the eyes of Chrysler.
Chrysler has not said how much it paid for the two-minute ad that aired during the third quarter of the game. Nor did it say if the ad dollars came from federal loans.
Steyn also dismantled the Motor City and its portrayal in the ad. "I was impressed that he (Eminem) could find a theater that's not been reduced to rubble in Detroit." The Chrysler ad ends with the hip-hop star entering the Fox Theater in Detroit, one of the city's upscale landmarks. Steyn also said that some of Detroit's black mayors had "cannibalized" the city and noted that "one in two citizens (of Detroit) are illiterate. That's about the same rate as the Ivory Coast."
The controversy over his comments fueled debate on Detroit radio stations on Tuesday, with WJR-AM's talk show host Frank Beckmann noting that General Motors advertises on the Rush Limbaugh Show. WJR-AM runs the Rush Limbaugh show in the noon-to-3 p.m. time slot Monday through Friday.
Steyn's Web site fielded complaints from angry Michigan residents, including one who described himself as a 33-year-old male from the Detroit suburbs. "I am sure that your rhetoric is great for ratings (but done) at the expense of Detroit," he wrote.
Inside Line says: Love it or hate it, the Chrysler Super Bowl ad has been a model of how to successfully generate buzz. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
ianzoe1 says:
10:08 AM, 02/10/2011
Another ignorant Detroit basher who has no clue what is going on or what this city is like. If you have never been here or experienced what goes on here keep your ignorant opinions to yourself!!!!!
I'd say come here and see what the city is like, but we have enough problems here already without adding some loud mouthed moron to our troubles!
rwright100 says:
08:58 AM, 02/09/2011
Thanks, phoenixc, I agree 100%:
phoenixc says:
09:37 PM, 02/08/2011
I loved the ad, and wrote a blog about it.
For anyone to talk about the ad as if it were 'controversial' is outta their mind.
It was as all good marketing, an effective salvo in the long battle Chrysler has ahead of themselves.
As for tax money? You have to get customer into a showroom in order to sell a car - if they don't sell anything we won't see any of 'our' money. I love how people who present that they love the economy and love business get all mad when a business does something like promote itself. Commercials, branding, messaging, and a great story are what makes people want to learn more about a brand. It won't polish a turd, but it will raise interest, in I think this time Chrysler may well be able to deliver.
>> http://alphamaverick.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/passion-does-your-brand-have-any/
tdiluv says:
06:07 AM, 02/09/2011
What's this all about, like me and millions others have totally forgotten the super bowl adds already. These adds and EMINEM AND STEYN and LIMBAUGH whoever they are have no relevant impact on anything!
Let's keep the column on relavant auto info!!
mklrivowner says:
05:15 AM, 02/09/2011
...wait... I thought it was Rush and the rest of the Right-Wing Conservative media that were touting "Help prevent Detroit's fall by buying American"?
If there was ever any doubt about a conspiracy against Chrysler, this should silence it all.
dmpete says:
03:41 AM, 02/09/2011
I heard someone in this forum say the Detroit 3, Ford dug itself out of bankrupcy w/ out the aid of us taxpayers by making smart business decisions, selling off dead weight, and actually building cars that people want. I haven't seen any of these things w/ the new Chrysler products. If you look at the 200, its a warmed over sebring.It won't be long before the money dries up and they will be back at uncle sams table for another handout. Here's a clue for you.... Spend the money next time on some new engineers, come up w/ some new models. Not some rehashed warmed over junk that no one wants to be seen in anyway. Then you can shout from the mountain top Chrysler is Back! Where is Lee Iacoca when we need him? Everyone in here has a right to an opinion,(stupid as it might be) I have mine and you just heard it.
cz_75 says:
02:48 AM, 02/09/2011
Other than his shyster comment, which I believe is a tempest in a teapot, I can't disagree with Steyn. Detroit may have had some crappy GOP mayors, but when the hell was that? Certainly not recently, and none compare to Kwame Kilpatrick. The city is controlled by the democrats and has been for a long time. If it had anything going for it, they'd be taking all the credit, but instead they can take the blame.
Eminem isn't any kind of role model or judge of quality, no matter how much money he makes selling his chanting to the uncritical and Detroit is the kind of place I'd be happy to never go back to. Just a rapper who grew up in a trailer park and the ghetto and still acts and thinks like it (and is only noteworthy because he's white and has more appeal to suburbia). Chrysler has always been scheiss, even compared to the rest of the Big Three, and some slickly produced commercial that appeals to emotion isn't going to prove to me that they finally make decent cars, especially when owned by such a brand noteworthy for their quality and reliability as Fiat. American car companies have always had better advertising than product.
sarahpalin says:
01:44 AM, 02/09/2011
Rush has always been right about the union thugs.
Also, the 300 has been, is and always will be just a Poor Man's Bentley, the real thing of which the suckers of America can't afford!
vid says:
12:18 AM, 02/09/2011
congrats...are you worth 115 million US dollars like eminem is? And if you were do you think you would still own a 300? Like i said before...you seem to be unable to understand my point. That commercial is a marketing tool...like the columnist said at the end it's meant to stir up buzz...as much as i hate to correspond with you and feed into what defines america as we know it today (a greedy ego driven reality show) due to it's pointlessness, i feel that i cant just sit back and watch you guys waste time talking about pointless dribble. If you want to make a point then put a hard working blue collar american in the driver's seat..because that would be real. Don't put some celeb in a commercial to stir up buzz...it's an insult to everyone.
chardan says:
11:28 PM, 02/08/2011
whatever, these stupid people keep voting the what the union tells them to. killed the goose that laid the egg..
btw, I own a 300c and love it.
vid says:
10:34 PM, 02/08/2011
For anyone who likes this commercial take the time out and think it through instead of falling for the trash they expect you to. Are you people aware of how much money eminem's stupid ass is worth? Do you honestly think he would be driving around in a Chrysler...seriously...even a 300? Are you insane? However what he probably did do is take the same money that the american taxpayers gave for the bailout which is what he received for making the commercial and went and bought himself a Ferrari. I love how americans are fueled by their emotions instead of common sense...it goes as far as preventing them from logical thinking. Pitiful.