Monday, February 6, 2012

The Best Super Bowl Commercial

As the Super Bowl has become a media spectacle, the television commercials get a lot of play, especially that airtime was going for $3.5 million for 30 seconds. A Ferris Bueller reprisal gave us a nice memory, Jerry Seinfeld brought back the Soup Nazi, Anhauser Busch, as usual, had a stellar one, VW continued on the Star Wars trend and a child using a swimming pool as a toilet got a good laugh, but no other commercial was as good as this one:



This Chrysler ad called "Halftime in America" features Clint Eastwood giving a "Halftime pep talk," tying in America's economic problems and fears as a result of them, combining with Chrysler and how they came back: uniting for a common goal. Images in the commercial, from the fear of Americans to the work taking place again on the assembly liner, further convey the given message. The commerical was quite moving and inspirational; borrowing from Ronald Reagan's 1984 ad, Morning in America. Clint Eastwood was perfect for this role! The commercial's message of optimism and moving forward with a united front is what Americans want to hear, as time and time again, it inspires them to try harder, to do better. If I'm a Republican political consultant, I am taking notes and will make darn sure I borrow elements of "Halftime in America" for the campaign against Obama.

An omen for November 2012? We shall see.

UPDATE, 2/6/12 at 11:50AM: Commentary is starting to trickle out about the Clint Eastwood commercial and some are claiming it to be pro-Obama. Considering its focus is on a car company taken over by the Federal Government, and also the use of "Halftime in America" as code for Obama's re-election, I can see how the pro-Obama argruments can be made. However, I have been following the political process and the message of optimism, unity, and moving forward articulated by this commercial and Conservatives does not jive with the Democrat and Obama message of pessimism, division and class warfare that Obama has been articulating for the past three years.

UPDATE, 2/6/12 at 11:24PM: Clint Eastwood responds to the accusations that this commercial was a political message.

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