"Imported From Detroit"

[Stinky The Clown]

This isn't a commentary on Chrysler products, or even cars. It is about that ad series. I *really* like the attitude, the city scenes, the staging, the gospel choir, the Detroit accent of the narrator, the in-your-face nature of it all. It is unapologetically American without a bit of flagwaving and false patriotism.

It is gritty and urban and hopeful. It portrays the beauty of a place written off as dead. It is chin-out-proud.

I like it.

http://www.chrysler.com/en/ifd/

[Matariki]

1. On the other hand, the best they do fuel economy-wise is 21 mpg city

And as low as 14 mpg city. All the feel good ads in the world aren't going to help with that.

http://www.chrysler.com/en/performance/2012/

[HillWilliam]

2. I still love my Dodge pickup, even at 23 mpg

But then again, I live way out in the sticks. If there were a hybrid or electric pickup that could do farm work like I have to do, I'd love to have it.

[alphafemale]

4. I drove a Dodge early 70's pickup in the early 80's to college and work that got an mpg of...8 mpg

lol. You could actually SEE the gas gauge needle creeping back.

Of course the thing DID kick ass.

[HillWilliam]

13. Hooyeah :)

To update a phrase I used downthread, that's a truck that can haul ass and a 30' trailer. I put Flowmasters on mine. Sounded great and got another couple-three mpg. Then the oil pump quit and took that engine with it. Now it's sitting in the yard waiting for me to be employed again. Hubby wants to electrify it (I'm not sure of the hauling capability) and I'm leaning toward Mopar. I guess we'll figure it out by summer. I hope. Lord, I need a job.

[mitchtv]

33. my first car was a '64 1/2 ton pickup

bad on gas , she was called "the Blue Sow"

[Matariki]

5. Sure of course. But I see so many "work trucks" in the city it's not funny

Most of them commuting to and from their office jobs.

Anyway, I really wanted to root for Chrysler while watching that ad, but then I clicked on the fuel efficiency link and was disappointed. If they want to not suck and move forward into the future, they're going to have to do better than that.

[HillWilliam]

12. That's true. But their mentality has always been

hotazz muscle cars and I'm sure that's pretty hard to shake. It'd be nice to see them come out with a decent electric but I'm not holding my breath.

My best girlbuddy in high school used to roar around the county in her dad's Fury III. My gawd that car could fly. The first time her dad handed me the keys he said, "There's only one way to drive a car like that: like you stole it. Do *not* baby my baby." I still love that car, though it's long, long gone. It sacrificed its life for my girlbuddy. Went right through a telephone pole but she only banged her knee. Got a couple of stitches, that was it.

Now that was a car that could haul ass and a 20' trailer. (wistful sigh)

(Yeah, there are lotsa gay motorheads. I'm one. My partner is another. )

[Kurmudgeon]

8. My Chrysler 200 is rated at 30, and even around town doesn't go below 25 mpg.

Just bought it in early November, it's been wonderful and I expect a long life out of it, just the same as my 2000 Grand Caravan that I'll have owned a dozen years this coming January. My daughter's fiance drives it to work most every day, heck, even it does better than 14 mpg, so does my 2004 Ram 2500 Diesel and I don't even expect good fuel mileage out of it and it runs 16-17 generally.
The only Chrysler product listed getting 14mpg is a Hemi SRT Chrysler 300, and that's a high performance engine, being a little disingenuous, aren't we?

[EOTE]

18. I'm afraid you're misinformed.

The four banger 200s get upwards of 30mpg. Also, the nearly 300 hp 300 V6 gets 31 mpg when combined with the 8 speed. A 2 ton sedan with nearly 300hp and 31mpg? That seems pretty damned good to me.

[Matariki]

24. Where are you getting those erroneous numbers?

Look up those vehicles here for the combined mpg: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Your example of the 300 V6 for instance gets 21mpg combined (18 city, 27 highway).

Here's a link: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=noform&path=1&year1=2012&year2=2012&make=Chrysler&model=300&srchtyp=ymm

[EOTE]

30. The 300 V6 with 8 speed transmission gets 31mpg highway.

It's in the very link that you provided. 31mpg highway is damned good for a 2 ton sedan. Much less one with nearly 300hp.

[Romulox]

20. Did you even read the link you provided? It boggles the mind. nt

[Matariki]

23. What are you talking about?

I'm looking at the City miles - the best is 21mpg and the worse 14mpg.

Looking at the cars' COMBINED miles at http://www.fueleconomy.gov isn't much better. Looking at those numbers the cars get 24mpg for the 200 and a paltry 20 mpg for the Town and Country. Those numbers are TERRIBLE and none come close to hitting the CAFE standards for 2012.

If Chrysler wants to succeed, they aren't going about it the right way. The world doesn't need a whole new fleet of gas guzzling, fuel INEFFICIENT cars.

[Romulox]

29. It doesn't support your assertion. nt

[Matariki]

32. You will need to be more clear in your response.

*What* doesn't support *which* assertion?

I just posted facts from http://www.fueleconomy.gov - the "official US government source for fuel economy information".

Unless you want to discuss the factual information about these cars, I can't see much point in a conversation with you. I certainly don't understand your one-liner snark.

[bhikkhu]

3. I can't remember the last time I say an ad I liked

but that was really well done!

[Brickbat]

6. I think it fucking rocks. I bought some of the shirts when I saw the first ad (back in January).

Good stuff. I like it for Detroit's sake, and I like it for what it is.

[tammywammy]

7. I remember being stunned over their ad in the Superbowl last year.

Perfect scenes, the Eminem music, the whole tone of it. It made me just think 'fuck yeah!' an emotional advertisement about the whole culture of Detroit and rebirth of both auto manufacturing and a city. I hope the guys that came up with that ad got big bonuses.

[Bozita]

9. Really good stuff! ... Recommended

[malthaussen]

10. It's a damned good ad

But it kind of reminds me of "What's good for General Motors is good for the USA."

-- Mal

[RZM]

11. Minor quibble, since I like the ads too

But Muddy Waters is Chicago, via Mississippi. I thought it worked better with Eminem, who is commonly associated with Detroit. There are lots of Detroit musical artists whom I'm sure would be happy to license their music to these ads.

[Romulox]

21. John Lee Hooker became famous in Detroit. nt

[WildEyedLiberal]

26. Yeah and the latest ones have "Heart of the City" by Jay-Z, who immediately makes me think of NYC

I think it's a brilliant campaign and I really enjoy the ones with the Eminem song backed by the Gospel choir, but yeah, the nitpicker part of me went "huh?" when I heard the Jay-Z song. It's a minor complaint, though, and I guess they probably need a bit of variety instead of just playing "Lose Yourself" in every ad.

[AngryAmish]

14. The thing is that Detroit is such a shithole, tho

Seeing that commercial does not make me want to buy a car from them.

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Sadly, the once great Detroit defines the term "Rust Belt"

It didn't have to be that way. Greed killed Detroit. Greed to get manufacturing done as cheap as possible in third world countries.

[LisaM]

34. I did a bike ride through the city of Detroit in September with about 4000 other people

It was an astonishing event and I had a wonderful time. The Tigers had made the playoffs; it was Restaurant Week, the exhibits at the DIA were amazing. Belle Isle looked good, and there were lots of regular people out for runs while the bikers went by.

Just like in the Chrysler ads, there were people hanging out on porches waving at us. We rode to areas just a few miles from the heart of downtown and there were nice neighborhoods. Everyone stopped at Gabriel Richard park and ate apples and socialized.

Wheelhouse Detroit sponsored the event, and there was a lot of good biking on the waterfront. Afterwards, there was a party by the old depot with live music and donated food and beer.

It was a fantastic time, and the undiminished spirit of the people was a beautiful thing to see. It's not that easy to bike 25 miles with tears in your eyes part of the way, but it made me proud that my famiy has deep ties to Detroit.

I don't think you should call it a shithole. It's an uninformed, mean-spirited comment and I find it extremely offensive. But, I've been on DU since 2001 and the things I've heard said about Detroit over that time would make an angel weep. The level of insensitvity about a once-beautiful city that keeps trying and trying is not something I would expect in a progressive community.

[Stinky The Clown]

39. +1

[pitohui]

42. nice post

was there recently and it's def not a shithole, i had the advantage of being there in this beautiful autumn we had this year, so gorgeous

i bet it was a blast to do the bike event there...

[LisaM]

43. It was, and I highly recommend it.

Tour de Troit. They do it every year in September. And the hotels give you a good deal; I stayed at the Book Cadillac for $129 and have a view of the river.

[William769]

16. Detroit is a unique city.

I look forward to it's comeback in all aspects not just cars.

[Snotcicles]

27. +1

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

17. I love those commercials - very American. I even shopped for a Chrysler... until I saw the prices!

They were just too expensive for us to consider. Even the lowly Chrysler 200 was like $19,000!
But the Chrysler 200's and 300's are damn sexy cars. Wish I had the dough.

I like owning american cars. My wife and I have had seven American vehicles over the years. (mostly fords)
Dodge Ares, Ford Escort, Lincoln Town Car, Ford Taurus, Eagle Talon and 2X Ford Focus.

The only new (american) cars we could consider this time were the cheap Ford Fiesta, Chevy Aveo and Ford Ranger. And to be honest, the Aveo and Fiesta were just too cramped to be practical. Finally it came down to the cheap Ford Ranger and a Kia Soul. We ended up going with the Kia - my father scoffed at "the import" but we're happy with it. Despite the Ranger being a truck, the Soul was much more practical. Good saftey, good warranty, good economy, and comfortable seating for 4.

So after over half a dozen American cars, we finally bought a foriegn car.

[Romulox]

22. Are you going to complain when they cut Social Security? If so, who do you think will pay? nt

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

25. Social security?? What's that got to do with this? Pay whom for what?

To be honest, I don't think much about SS. I pay into it as required and if it's still around when i retire then great... if not, then I doubt my complaining will help. But as much as everyone bitches about it, by the time I reture I'll be surprised if it's still around.

[Romulox]

28. Everything is connected. Many times the connections are fairly obvious. nt

[HappyMe]

19. Agreed.

The first ad during the Superbowl was stunning. Both in the message and the way it looked.

[PassingFair]

31. Detroiter here! I like them too.

Especially the Eminem one, even though I'm not a huge fan of his.

They're taking a big chance with the "gritty-ness"

...advertising studies show
that people don't want to be reminded of reality.

[Faygo Kid]

35. +1. Born and bred.

Exported to DC for now.

[1620rock]

36. Love the ad, I live far to the north of the city, but the ad does Michigan proud.

[Faygo Kid]

37. Far to the north - that's my destination in a couple years.

Semi-retirement to the Traverse City area, and I'm determined.

[Motown_Johnny]

38. Did someone miss the Super Bowl last year?

The ad was a big deal back then.


Kinda getting old now IMO (and I live in Detroit).


I hope they come out with an updated version for this year's Super Bowl.

[Stinky The Clown]

40. My intent was the entire ongoing series, not just one ad.

And yes, as a matter of fact I did miss the sooperbowl. Intentionally.

[pitohui]

41. yes this is a cute ad series (started at superbowl last year)

i am not gonna buy a chrysler because of an ad but the ads are well done and i wish them every success

i'll stick w. my ford, i hope that's still imported from detroit...!

[zipplewrath]

44. I like it too

Helps a bit I'm from Michigan originally. I've seen the impact directly. Flint, Detroit, and a whole host of cities that are suffering greatly, predominately to forces outside of their direct control.

There's a "down but not out" attitude to the whole thing. The irony is also a bit thick too. Folks have been buying "imported" cars for decades, made right here in the USofA. So here ya go, we're imported. Imported from Detroit.

[uponit7771]

45. They're hitting it out of the park with their ad series...I drive a chrysler now