How effective was Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial?

Everyone’s talking about the Super Bowl ad that featured hometown rapper Eminem, the new Chrysler 200, and the city of Detroit. Was it effective advertising?

Of course, I’m biased, but it seems like people even outside the city are talking about the commercial. It was discussed on the Today Show this morning, and some of the celebrities I follow on Twitter — none from Detroit — mentioned it. So clearly, the commercial has made a mark not only on the Motor City, but the country.

What made it stand out so well?

It seemed more like a commercial for the city than for a car, talking about the “great and the grim of Detroit,” and “the edge, the pride, the determination, the pulse that just won’t quit.” It didn’t have computer-generated animals or feature men acting like idiots, an issue one ad exec had with many of the other Super Bowl commercials. Plus, it was long enough that it could tell a real story — instead of the standard 30-second commercial, this one lasted two minutes.

One thing I noticed, too, is that it embraced what wasn’t so great about the city — the abandoned buildings, the economic decline, etc. It reminded me of another campaign that embraced the bad — Domino’s Pizza, who created a whole Website documenting the re-creation of its pizza. Those commercials have also been a big hit.

Of course, only time will tell if Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial did its intended job, to sell cars. But we know one thing — the commercial got people talking, and isn’t that the main objective?

What do you think? Would you have run a commercial like that for your company? Do you think it was effective?

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