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Chadmouth: Super Bowl Commercial Edition


Chadmouth: Super Bowl Commercial Edition

Football is uniquely American, and yet Baseball and Apple Pie are always the things that get quoted. We can’t forget my favorite though when General Motors President, and U.S. Secretary of Defense, Charles Wilson replied in a Senate hearing that “…what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa.” This one turned into the popular Eisenhower era phrase “As goes General Motors, so goes the Nation.” Super Bowl 46 had a lot of crazy commercials, but there were quite a few that focused on American pride or nostalgia and as usual we have some favorites.

The Budweiser commercial celebrating the end of prohibition was cool, but the Bud Light Platinum was so bad it canceled out the cool. Seriously? Bud Light Platinum? That’s like offering crap and super duper crap. It’s light beer. The only way it could be worse would be if it was Miller Lite Platinum (Editor’s note: Miller Light is way better than Bud Light!). If you are going to make a fancy version of a beer, make it something good. Anyone know what Thunderbird wine is? They don’t make a Gold version. The guy that thought of that at Budweiser should be smacked for actually believing Bud Light is worthy of a Platinum version. Does they make Platinum actual beer? I doubt it.

The commercial for the Fiat 500 Abarth is cool because they drive the thing hard, and because they used one that wasn’t white in the commercial, and of course because J-Lo wasn’t in it. Looks like a cool little car. We’ll have to see if we can get one and spray it or something.

A serious disappointment for me was the Kia Optima commercial that had Motley Crue in it. The Optima is an attractive little car, and I’m sure great to drive. But Motley Crue? Seriously? I’m just sayin’. I mean those bastards have owned killer cars of all kinds, died and come back to life, nailed every hot chick on the planet, and gotten away with almost everything. Not one of them would be caught dead driving down Sunset in a Kia Optima. And if one of them did then they need to get their Crue card revoked. Nikki, Tommy, Vince and Mick…Unless there were double digit millions coming to each of you, fire the guy on staff that thought this was a good idea. Call us, we’ll make an American muscle commercial that will blow your mind.

As Brian wrote last week, we dig the Chevrolet Apocalypse commercial. What a great dig at a competitor. We love it. The one we hadn’t seen before was the Chevrolet Sonic stunt car. That was cool. We especially like the slow motion footage where it looks like the driver has his eyes closed. I’m sure it’s just a blink, but it looks like his eyes are closed because of the slo mo. I’m all in for doing the stunt. I might close my eyes, but that’s okay. A barrel roll in anything is killer.

Ferris Bueller….could have been better. And he was in a soccer mom Honda or something? Go buy a Ferrari or a Corvette. Or both. Honda? Seriously. Wow.

You go Cadillac. Calling out the Germans on their own turf. Damn dudes. Nurburgring looks bad assed, and I’d love to make some laps there. Who knows, maybe Brian and I will have to make a BangShift Europe trip sometime and see if we can hit the ring in something cool. Can you still go as fast as you want on certain sections of the Autobahn?

I have to say though, without question, my favorite commercial from the 2012 Super Bowl was Chrysler’s “It’s halftime in America”. I watched it three times in a row and have watched it three more online. Clint Eastwood is an all-American bad ass. Pure and simple, he kicks ass. Sure he’s rich and famous, but he’s also the American dream. He grew up in a meager home, worked his ass off, was in a plane crash into the ocean and lived, has been a cowboy more times that could be listed, and as Dirty Harry he became the ass kickin-est cop of all time.

So when Chrysler’s “It’s halftime in America.” commercial started, and I immediately recognized the voice, it gave me the chills. I listened carefully to the words, and studied the images on the screen. I understood the emotions of the people, I’ve felt them, we all have. I heard what he said. Really heard it. I could hear my Grandpa telling me about the hard times they made it through way back in the day. I know it sucks, with the economy being in the shitter, and people losing houses and jobs. We have experienced those hard times for the past couple years. I know people in Detroit. I know what they have gone through. I know what some of them have survived, and others have not. The American auto industry effects each one of us whether we work for them or not. Don’t bitch about the bailouts. It is what it is. That’s not the point. The point is, Detroit is back. They’ve made it through the first half of the game. America is right there beside them. And if we were Motor Trend or Road and Track or Edmunds, I might worry about being politically correct so that Honda would advertise with us. We’re not. We’re BangShift.com, and I say get out there and kick some ass Detroit. Like Clint said, “the worlds going to hear the roar of our engines”.

There’s a reason that everyone on the planet wants Levi’s, Big-Blocks, and Roots Blowers. It’s cause they were made in America.

And America is cool.

Halftime is almost over folks. It’s game time. Let’s get it on.


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12 thoughts on “Chadmouth: Super Bowl Commercial Edition

  1. Bob Holmes

    Nicely done.

    I have to say, that Clint’s commercial flat riveted me. I could listen to that over and over.

  2. gary

    Meh. The commercial was good. Bailouts, get over it? No way. They were as un-American as they get. The gov’t STOLE legitimate bondholders shares and redistributed them to the UAW. Get over it? No freakin’ way. Now the Italians own Chrysler, and somehow that’s better than M-B owning them? Sorry, I’m Mopar to the core, but I’ve bought my last new Mopar or GM product unless I hear the UAW has been destroyed and right to work is allowed in “motor city”. Ford now remains the only true example of the American auto industry.

  3. kc

    I work for Chrysler in Dundee, Michigan, and I am thankful every day that I have a job to go to and that I can support my family. Great commercial. I heard Clint donated his entire paycheck from doing that commercial to charity. Now that’s a class act.

  4. joebogey

    Right to work? Cut to the chase, start doing the work of you & 2 of your co-workers, for half the pay and with getting shit-canned at almost any time hanging over your head. Sure there are some abuses, but you can’t hang everything on Unions. I worked as both a Union employee and a management employee in the same company. The took benefits, pensions, & overtime away from managers. The Union still has them. Sure they company would let them keep them out of the goodness of their hears.

    As for the commercial, great tone, great message.

  5. cyclone03

    “video removed for copyright clain by Chrysler”? WTH it’s a commercial wouldn’t they want everybody to see it?

  6. gary

    The point was, letting them go bankrupt would have helped them recover in a much more healthy manner than being “bailed out” so they could continue doing business poorly. Then there’s the Bondholders, who would have weathered the storm with expectation of a healthier conpany emerging. Instead, they were ripped off by the government. And the unions were the recipients of stolen goods (the bonds that didn’t belong to them). The bailouts were crimminal, and nothing, and whichever side you come down on unions, can change that…

  7. Todd

    I’m just glad we are back on the GM vs Ford vs Chrysler kick again.. I hope the days of GM, Ford & Chrysler vs the import market are over. Toyota can go accelerate off a cliff for all I care.

    I would rather see my tax money go to the automakers rather than some useless lazy bum who doesn’t want to work!…or handing it out to foreign countries to help them!

    It’s time for America and if they continue to use my tax money for shit like this.. I’m all for it.

  8. Chris C.

    On these bailouts using tax dollars and then paying them back with interest. Then why the eff am I paying taxes this year. They borrowed my money and gave it back with interest, the interest should cover me. I should get credit for the Kick Flip aka barrel role, last year I signed up for the Ken Block DC contest of best car stunt. My submission was the James Bond Barrel Role in the Amc Hornet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6iksKTURlA
    One year later and DC shoes and Chevy does the stunt. Coincidence I think not, now give me something. Preferably the Fiesta, not the Chunky Chevy.

  9. Tim Adcock

    Great commercial is an understatement. I was glued to this and willing to accept it at face value by latching on to phrases like, “…if we can’t find a way, we make one.” And, “this country can’t be knocked out with one punch.” That sermon was “A” political and a well-timed as a reminder of the greatness within that is rooted in our unique brand of freedom.
    I have been living this theme for the past three years. I lost my job in transportation in May of ’09 and spent a year desperately trying to get back in to that severely depressed business segment. Through connections I made at the race track 25 years ago, I found an opportunity in the performance world as a startup distributor for a line of American made AN fittings. You might say I couldn’t find a way so I made one. America ideals still work.

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