I thought about doing a Super Bowl recap blog, but the result of the game kind of was what it was…while the finish was entertaining, it wasn’t a particularly well played game by either team. The matchup and the resulting outcome pretty much confirmed what we already knew. The Steelers (much like the Spurs in the NBA, in my opinion) will always be that solidly built team, and as long as they have Big Ben and a stingy D they will contend for championships. The Packers finally proved they were the team everyone thought they could be for the last two years. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if these two teams met up in a Super Bowl rematch in the not too distant future. To me, the coolest thing that came out of Super Bowl Sunday was one particular commercial. My Super Bowl viewing experience was kind of odd this year. Normally on Super Bowl Sunday, I can be found plopped down on the couch for seemingly the entire day, but this year Krissy and I were helping my parents do some stuff around their house during the afternoon. This resulted in us using a technological marvel known as a DVR to watch the game. Anyway, when you DVR anything, the natural tendency is to just fast forward through all the commercials, but during the Super Bowl the ads are sometimes as entertaining as the game itself. With that being said, Super Bowl commercials have been severely lacking the past few years, so I sped through 95% of them. I would occasionally hit play when I saw an E-Trade Baby ad or an ad with a chimp in a suit driving a car to work, but for the most part I fast forwarded through everything.

During one particular timeout, a car ad seemed to be running. I didn’t pay a great deal of attention to it, but as I was fast forwarding I noticed what I thought was Eminem towards the end of the ad. Being the huge Em fan that I am, I immediately rewinded to the beginning of the commercial to watch it in full. I have to say that as far as TV commercials go, it was brilliant. There was no slapstick comedy in it (like some guy getting hit in the balls or Betty White getting tackled into a pool of mud), no grandiose or expensive looking CGI, and no self-important tagline where the ad-makers think they are a lot more clever than they really are. The camera brings you through what looks like authentic Detroit. The narrator tells you of the struggles and perseverance of the city, and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” starts to quietly build in the background. The narrator says something to the effect of, “This isn’t New York City, the Windy City, and it’s definitely not the Emerald City.” The camera cuts to Eminem getting out of a Chrysler, and stepping into Detroit’s world famous Fox Theatre where a Gospel choir continues to lead into the instrumental bridge of the song, and Eminem turns to the camera and says, “This is the Motor City, and this is what we do.” The commercial then ends with the words “Imported from Detroit” across the screen…now, I am already biased to liking anything involving Eminem, but it was just very cool. I am not from Detroit, nor do I have any affiliation with the city, but it was hard not to feel kind of proud after watching that. Detroit is as all-American and as blue-collar as any city in the country, and for me at least I couldn’t help feeling a little patriotism start to swell up. For a moment, it caused me to forget any notion I had of buying a Toyota, BMW, or Suburu…which is what makes the ad so smart and effective in the first place. I’m not saying I still don’t want to buy a Tacoma, but the ad definitely appeals to my wanting to buy a domestic vehicle when the time comes. Anyway, check out the Chrysler spot below and decide what you think for yourself.