{"id":36234,"date":"2011-02-10T09:05:42","date_gmt":"2011-02-10T14:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=36234"},"modified":"2011-02-10T09:05:42","modified_gmt":"2011-02-10T14:05:42","slug":"will-eminem-make-return-appearance-for-chrysler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2011\/02\/will-eminem-make-return-appearance-for-chrysler\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Eminem Make Return Appearance for Chrysler?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Will Eminem return as Chrysler spokesman?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was one of the highest-rated \u2013 and talked-about \u2013 commercials on the Super Bowl.\u00a0 But will there be a reprise of the cinematic Chrysler spot, dubbed \u201cBorn of Fire,\u201d that featured rapper Eminem?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been a frequent topic of conversation almost from the moment the unusual 2:00 minute commercial aired during the second half of last Sunday\u2019s game.\u00a0 The emotion-tinged effort featured the rapper, born Marshall Mathers, driving through a city that has, as the narration explains, \u201cbeen to hell and back,\u201d before he joins a gospel choir to deliver an 11-word message that essential says Chrysler is back.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Your Solid Source!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chrysler brand boss Olivier Francois is meeting with Eminem today as a follow-up to the spot, the executive revealed to TheDetroitBureau.com, during an exclusive discussion at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show.\u00a0 While he didn\u2019t deny that the idea of a follow-up might be raised, he cautioned, \u201cIt has to be relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will never engage with a celebrity just to have him a commercial,\u201d that doesn\u2019t have the significance, relevance and impact of the \u201cBorn of Fire\u201d spot, which ended with a stern Eminem facing the camera and declaring, \u201cThis is the Motor City. And this is what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spot clearly struck a chord in Motown, a community hard hit by years of decline and the most recent recession.\u00a0 But where many thought one, perhaps all of Detroit\u2019s Big Three makers might not make it through the downturn, all have come through \u2013 for now, anyway.\u00a0 After a two-month run through bankruptcy court, in 2011, Chrysler is still seen as the weakest of the makers.<\/p>\n

The long Eminem spot was designed as much to rebuild the image of the brand \u2013 making customers feel comfortable about Chrysler\u2019s viability \u2013 as it was to sell the new 200 sedan that was the featured product.<\/p>\n

Significantly, the commercial appears to have resonated beyond the city limits.\u00a0 Even the competition had plenty of praise, Ford\u2019s marketing czar, Jim Farley, suggesting it did a \u201cfantastic\u201d job of \u201cmyth-busting.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commercial \u201cfit him,\u201d Chrysler chief Francois said of Eminem, and if the approach is to be repeated, any follow-up will have to be equally suitable.<\/p>\n

Of course, the other question is whether Eminem would make himself available.\u00a0 The star of the gritty film, \u201cEight Mile,\u201d he had long rejected doing commercials, unlike so many others in the rap world.\u00a0 But Mathers actually made two appearances during this year\u2019s Super Bowl ad-fest.\u00a0 Along with the Chrysler spot he lent his voice to an animated pitch for Lipton Brisk ice tea.<\/p>\n

Eminem has not yet said whether he would like to expand his place in the world of celebrity pitchmen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Breaking News: Chrysler’s brand boss will be meeting with Eminem, star of the maker’s much-discussed Super Bowl ad. Will the rapper return to the small screen as the face of the new Chrysler? TheDetroitBureau.com has this exclusive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[151],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36234"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=36234"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=36234"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=36234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}