Thread: It's Halftime in America

This was shown today right at the end of the halftime show of the Superbowl game. I thought it was an AMAZING commercial. It really speaks about the way American's view themselves and of course the use of Clint Eastwood was exceptional casting. The rainbow and multi-generational casting was the icing on the cake. Was there a dog on the porch? If not, that was the only thing missing.

I guess I wasn't the only one to like the spot and think it was a game changer...

Chrysler is king of Super Bowl spots, once again - Feb. 5, 2012

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Once again, Chrysler's Super Bowl ad won the hearts and minds of football fans, this time with a little help from Clint Eastwood and, of course, Detroit.

"It was superb," said Kelly O'Keefe, professor of brand strategy at Virginia Commonwealth University, immediately after Chrysler's "It's Halftime in America" spot aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday. "They had the courage to take the power of emotions. I got goosebumps."

The lengthy Chrysler spot featured Eastwood, who starred in and directed the acclaimed Detroit-centric film "Gran Torino," as he extols the hardscrabble virtues of Motor City and America."This country can't be knocked out in one punch," Eastwood, said. "We get right back up again, and when we do, the world will hear the roar of our engines. It's half time, America.

"The spot was reminiscent of last year's Chrysler ad, which featured the Detroit rapper Eminem and celebrated the battered city's scrappy, all-American can-do attitude.

O'Keefe said that Chrylser had managed to take "ownership of Detroit," usurping that image from competitors Ford.

Tim Calkins, a marketing professor with Northwestern University's Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review, said that the Chrysler ad breaks away from the otherwise familiar Super Bowl ad themes of scantily clad women, cute animals and humor.

These themes are the bread and butter of ads from outfits like GoDaddy and Teleflora, featuring gorgeous women like Danica Patrick and Adrianna Lima, and Skechers (SKX), which starred a previously unknown French bulldog named Mr. Quiggly.But Calkins said that Chrysler aired a "stand-out ad" that was "serious and engaging."

Welcome to Forbes

Clint Eastwood's 'Halftime in America' Ad a New Ballgame

Another Super Bowl, another slew of ads. It’s become a predictable–perhaps, at this point, even rote–occasion: A volley of commercials insinuate themselves into our homes, packaged in either tidily clever trappings or whimsically left-field vignettes, that have less to do with selling the items than justifying the need to celebrate them. Super Bowl ads are often more eagerly anticipated than the 60 minutes of gameplay stringing them together like trinkets on a bracelet. They’re often admired for their ability to distract, whet or surprise.

But every once in a while, an ad comes along that doesn’t just stop the game, it changes the game. It happened in 1984, when Apple hired Blade Runner director Ridley Scott to shatter perceptions (both literally and figuratively) of personal computing. It happened in 1993, when McDonalds benefitted from basketball legends Michael Jordan and Larry Bird challenging each other to sink utterly implausible baskets (off the scoreboard; from the Hancock Building; over the river: “nothing but net”) to score a burger. It happened with Clara Peller’s t-shirt-slogan-in-the-making “Where’s the beef?” and it continued with a trio of frogs croaking their love for Budweiser in concert.


This year another advertisement entered a crowded field, without pomp but predicated on real-world circumstance–Chrysler’s “Halftime in America,” featuring a weathered but resolute Clint Eastwood. He isn’t exactly selling anything in the spot, which is filmed to resemble a political ad if it were produced by Paul Haggis (Eastwood’s collaborator on Million Dollar Baby and the director of Crash). Instead, he aims to jolt, then scold, but ultimately soothe the viewer. First seen walking from the shadows of a hazy football game, he hunches his shoulders walks with a tired grace. Speaking in a voice so gravelly you could walk across it, he declaims that the American auto industry’s primary focus has been compromised by the “fog, division, discord and blame,” but America “knows how to come from behind to win.”


The narration baldly but earnestly offers a commentary on the notion of halftime representing a rebirth not just for athletes, but for John Q’s, the American economy and the city of Detroit. Although Chrysler isn’t mentioned in his speech–which accompanies a montage of faces, flags, factories and automotive products–the evocation is clear and packs a wallop.


Also, it’s difficult to not be reminded of President Reagan’s “Morning Again in America” commercial. Here’s the text from the Chrysler ad:


This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Ya, it’s halftime in America, and our second half is about to begin.


And here’s a snippet of Reagan’s 1984 political ad, which was narrated against a similar montage of men and women going to work:


Today more men and women will go to work than ever before in our country’s history…It’s morning again in America, and under the leadership of President Reagan, our country is prouder and stronger and better.


The recession of 2007-2009 threw Motor City’s economy into tumult; the jobless rate peaked at 16.6 percent in July of 2009. Today it is 9.7 percent. “They almost lost everything,” Eastwood growls. “But we all pulled together. Now Motor City is fighting again.”


It was a bold move for the car maker to not feature its product line during the two-minute spot, but it resonated all the more because of it. Eastwood represents Hollywood, another made-in-the-U-S-A industry, and has been a seminal actor and director for five decades. His most recent role (and his last, according to interviews) was in a film about a retired car factory worker in Detroit. It could have been a controversial move, too politically charged for prime time sports, somber even. But there was hope scattered among the physical flotsam of metal and welding sparks, and hidden beneath the harsh tones. It was an ad that did something a little different than suggest one buy a product; it depicted the history, the present state and the possible future for, a country that experienced a mechanical renaissance partly forged by it.

I actually read about this ad in the freebie magazine "metro" on the metro today! In Sweden where I am at the moment.

The article said that it was hypocrisy to say that Chrysler symbolizes American entrepreneurialism when in fact, Chrysler was saved with American taxpayers money, in a ginormous bailout.

The article said that if anything, Chrysler and the bailout stifled American entrepreneurialism because the 250 million used to bail them out would have been spent on projects that are more in tune with the times...

What do I know though... I don't know whether it was right or wrong to bail out this company and I hope that those people who were out of work in Detroit get better lives now.

BTW - The commercial is removed!!! why would they stop people from watching their commercial.. how bizarre!!! So I still haven't seen the actual commercial.

COPYRIGHT baby!!! try this one...

I think his voice is creepy!
Am I the only woman in the world who doesn't understand what the big deal about Clint Eastwood is.....? He does nothing for me.....

It's a great commercial, but that's exactly what it is, a marketing tool. In that sense, it was terrific in appealing to American patriotism. But if you think about Chrysler and America as a whole, the system is corrupt and the bailout culture is rampant. Did anyone see how the big banks settled on a $26 billion fine today over the robo-signing scandal? There are numerous articles that show that they are not really paying a dime and it's really on the American taxpayer. Sad that they steal, then take money from responsible citizens and pays it back to irresponsible ones. Sad sad sad.

Last night on Saturday Night Live, they did 3 spoofs/parodies of the commercial... they were the best part of the show. Here is the first one.

Watch SNL Parody Clint Eastwood's Chrysler Super Bowl Spot

If you can get to NBC's site, you can watch all three here:

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Originally Posted by Hanna

I actually read about this ad in the freebie magazine "metro" on the metro today! In Sweden where I am at the moment.

The article said that it was hypocrisy to say that Chrysler symbolizes American entrepreneurialism when in fact, Chrysler was saved with American taxpayers money, in a ginormous bailout.

The article said that if anything, Chrysler and the bailout stifled American entrepreneurialism because the 250 million used to bail them out would have been spent on projects that are more in tune with the times...

What do I know though... I don't know whether it was right or wrong to bail out this company and I hope that those people who were out of work in Detroit get better lives now.

BTW - The commercial is removed!!! why would they stop people from watching their commercial.. how bizarre!!! So I still haven't seen the actual commercial.

The magazine might consider Chrysler and it's employees and all of it's suppliers ARE the taxpayers.

I don't know where they got the $250 million figure, but Chrysler received $12.5 billion in bailout money from the US government, most of which has been paid back. Sure Chrysler got a good deal when it's business was based on people borrowing money to buy a product maybe they couldn't really afford but then I'm not so sure the American government helping out an American company is such a bad idea.