Chrysler and Eminem Debut “Imported from Detroit” Ad Campaign

Posted by Michael Waterman on February 7th, 2011

If you’ve ever spent time in Detroit, you know it’s an American city like no other. Beautifully architected and designed buildings stand in various states of disrepair. Some city streets are virtually empty. Walking down the streets on a winter day, it can remind you of a zombie movie like I Am Legend where Will Smith drives his killer Mustang through the empty streets of New York City.

It’s a disorienting experience but also the most visible reminder of how far the American auto business has fallen from its mid-20th Century heyday.

Websites devoted to documenting Detroit’s decline like ForgottenDetroit.com show in vivid and sometimes shocking detail how much the cityscape has changed.

It’s a city where you can sense the esteem has been sucked right out from under its once-glamorous sheen.

That’s what makes the latest ad campaign from Chrysler so striking. Featuring Detroit native, Eminem, and evocative images of people, buildings, and some mysterious Chrysler sedan driving through the city streets, it immediately captures your imagination as a voiceover questions, “What does this city know about luxury? What does a town that’s been to hell and back know about the finer things in life? Well I’ll tell you, more than most.”

Ultimately, we discover the ad is promoting the 2011 Chrysler 200 with the tagline “Imported from Detroit.” Eminem says, “This is the Motor City. And this is what we do.”

It’s all quite arresting and affecting. Detroit natives jumped all over the pro-Detroit message by announcing their support and adoration for the campaign on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more, expressing their feelings of pride in their city. Other critics will undoubtedly claim the ad over-promises and under-delivers since the star vehicle is the Chrysler 200 instead of the much more luxurious and iconic 2011 Chrysler 300.

With an estimated media cost somewhere around $9 or $10 million, the campaign represents a big and admirable gamble by Chrysler on the car, the tagline and the city.

We hope they’re successful.