It’s a long way from Chrysler’s suburban Detroit headquarters to the Audi offices in Ingolstadt, but the German maker may have come a little too close to home for its U.S. rival and the rap star Eminem.
Audi is taking flak for a 2-minute video for the 2012 A6 Avant that allegedly mimics the well-reviewed Chrysler ad, featuring the rapper, that aired during the Super Bowl, earlier this year. Eminem’s song licensing firm, Eight Mile Style, has taken the dispute to a German court in an attempt to bar Audi from running the ad.
“Apparently, someone believes that the definition of copyright laws is the right to copy others’ materials,” said Gualberto Ranieri, chief spokesman for Chrysler told The Detroit Free Press which first reported on the brouhaha.
The original Chrysler commercial — which ran an unusual 2 minutes and cost an estimated $8 million to $9 million to produce and air – featured the rapper, legally known as Marshall Mathers III, driving through a series of urban settings, the background narration describing a scene of renewal for the City of Detroit and for Chrysler. The ad used a version of Eminem’s song, “Lose Yourself.”
And the complaint filed by Eight Mile Style claims that the new Audi video not only rips off the basic setting of the Chrysler spot – down to the urban background – but also Eminem’s music.
There’s a hauntingly similar fuzzed guitar riff, though no gospel choir, nor narration, and Audi features more shots of the car itself in motion, with an emphasis (in German) on its attributes. But the buzz in automotive circles, as well as in social media chats, underscores the similarities.
The Audi video made its debut at an event in Berlin on May 18th during a media preview of the A6 Avant — and though the automaker reportedly has no plans to actually broadcast the spot it has since gotten wide attention on YouTube – where the original Chrysler ad has so far been viewed more than 10 million times.
Coincidentally or not, the Audi video also runs about 2 minutes.
An officials with the German automaker, a luxury division of Volkswagen AG, says it intends to study the legal paperwork filed by Eight Mile Style but has no immediate comment.
Eminem appeared in two spots during the Super Bowl, the first time he had done commercials, but an ice tea ad used Claymation and a voiceover, rather than the rapper himself. Chrysler has discussed using Eminem again, though the Chrysler division’s President Olivier Francois told TheDetroitBureau.com in an exclusive interview, earlier this year, that he would not bring Eminem back “unless it was right” for the brand, and that Chrysler was not going into the business of seeking celebrity endorsements.
Nonetheless, the maker has been cutting and re-cutting the commercials, which originally helped launch the new 200 sedan, for use in ads and other marketing programs. With additional Detroit footage, a variation even ran during the media event at which Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne last month announced the maker had paid back its federal loans.
(Are the Audi and Chrysler ads really all that similar? Click Here to judge for yourself.)
I gotta go with Em on this one. It’s just too close for comfort. did not know about Eight Mile Style. Guess you gotta cover your ass-ets.
Apparently, the Audi piece was created for a media event and not for a commercial. I assume they definitely will NOT change that strategy now and will let this one slip into the past.
Paul A. Eisenstein
Publisher, TheDetroitBureau.com