Super Bowl ad review: Buy Chrysler or we inflict more Eminems on you
Campaign: Made of Fire, feat. Eminem
Brand: Chrysler 200
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy
Rating: 
By Bocaj Nosliw
In case there was any question where your money is going when you buy a Chrysler, here’s confirmation: the best advertising money can buy.
Boy did this one have me singing Lose Yourself (Eminem), Born in the USA (Springsteen), and Convoy (CW McCall – look it up) all at the same time. It was the full-throttle appeal to my all-American, blue-collar, statistically-likely-to-be-obese, union-member soul. (Even though I’m from Toronto – the opposite of Detroit – and I’ve always bought Japanese – ie job-killing – cars, and I am a union-busting corporate lawyer, and I used to have a very firm six-pack.)
I almost wanted to go git me some of these wheels. It would totally make up for the fact that I am married. The tinted windows would obscure the baby seats in the back.
But then my brain got in the way. What they are actually telling me is: “Buy our shitty cars or else the unparalleled urban shithole that is Detroit will get even shittier and inflict even more Eminems on you.”
Well then my response is: NO! I refuse to be intimidated. I’m getting a Toyota Sienna.
• Bocaj Nosliw is a father of two and works as a corporate lawyer in London.
Main Street was once lined with Chevys, Oldsmobiles and of course, Chryslers but over the years, the Japanese and Europeans have made a comfortable home here. Because of this, Detroit, the epicenter of the American car industry, has been hit hard. And Eminem won’t stand for this.
This Superbowl spot from Chrysler has all the makings of a great American anthem—churning smoke stacks, waving flags, and a syrupy-voiced narrator that could be the guy that sells you the newspaper every morning. All that’s missing is Rocky Balboa on his water break.
What we get instead is Eminem, another triumph of rags to riches, saggy jeans to designer saggy jeans. He’s a great example of the American Dream and his track Lose Yourself works. But do all these symbols come together to revive Detroit’s image? Does the spot make a bald eagle cry?
Sure. While I may not run out, buy a Chrysler and salute a fireman, the spot does remind me that bad times only lead to good times. And that good times could be enjoyed in a custom leather interior with wood paneling.