Celebrities and their wheels

February 20th, 2012 - Joe Duarte

Opinion: What can a company expect from a spokesperson?.

Autonet-Cartoon-trust-car-view-image

Illustration by KEVIN GROULX/QMI AGENCY

 Opinion: What can a company expect from a spokesperson?

Now that it’s owned by an Italian company (something the competitors are quick to point out at press conferences), Chrysler seems to be taking advantage of some American talent to push its rebound from near extinction.

After its being bought up by Fiat, Chrysler made a splash during the 2011 Super Bowl with a gritty two-minute spot featuring Detroit rapper Eminem, extolling the determination of the city to turn things around, while playing on the notion that the company is now run by off-shore owners with its “Imported from Detroit” tagline.

During the 2012 game, Chrysler followed up with a similar spot, this time starring Clint Eastwood proclaiming the theme that America (and Chrysler, by inclusion) is only halfway done in winning the game. Many see it as blatant promotion of U.S. President Barack Obama, who is nearing the end of his term in office and has the possibility of being re-elected to a second and final four-year term. Obama was instrumental in propping up Chrysler, even though many to this day believe it (and General Motors) should have been allowed to fail.

You probably can’t go wrong with Clint Eastwood telling the world how great your company is doing, or Dennis Leary talking about how tough a Ford truck is, but there must have been quite the discussion surrounding the hiring of Eminem for the original “Imported from Detroit” spot.

The man is not known for his squeaky clean image, something on which marketing agencies usually insist. When hiring a spokesperson, an agency will weigh the good and the bad in trying to reach that celebrity’s followers (both fans and detractors).

Eminem fits in, I guess, with the image rappers have of owning blinged up full-sized SUVs such as Lincoln Navigators and Cadillac Escalades, but Chrysler doesn’t have any of those, and its spot was for the mid-sized, family-market 200 (which does tie in to the blue-collar theme of the spot).

Still, it seemed to be a one-time spot, and didn’t have the millions poured into it, as have endorsements by the likes of Tiger Woods, with whom Buick (and others) cut ties during Woods’ messy affair/divorce scandal following an unsubstantiated Thanksgiving incident with then wife Elin Nordegren, involving a crashed Escalade with smashed out windows.

Other companies have managed to avoid getting wrapped up in the controversy, such as Chevrolet did when it parted ways with Michael Jordan before allegations of the latter’s gambling and extra-marital affairs cropped up, or Ford’s split from Bill Cosby long before sexual harassment allegations of him popped up.

And so we’re of the opinion that despite her promoting her new GMC Yukon Hybrid to just about any microphone she comes upon, it’s unlikely we’ll see Paris Hilton extolling the “virtues” of GMC.

1 comment

  1. D.A. Sebastian says:

    Eminem does fit in with Chryslers C300 or Dodge Charger which are just as popular and bling-able as the Escalade or Navigator with the hip hop crowd…just sayin’.

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