Clint Eastwood commercial

[ripper1]

What did you all think of the Clint Eastwood commercial. Some people tried to make it political. I thought it was very patriotic.

[yakers]

Pretty good. While it seems a bit remote to the coasts I think it will appeal to folks in the rust belt who are experiencing industrial decline and seeing a bit of growth and hoping for more. I think its pretty clever for an Italian company building cars in the US to advertise this way.

[HFWR]

I must have been on beer break when the commercial aired...

The auto bailout is a political football for both parties. Be that as it may, I hope the Big 3 can redeem themselves by making cars people want, and keeping the lid on the cost structure in good times, so they can withstand not-so-good times.

As for patriotic cheerleading, I generally find it unseemly...

[brewer12345]

Clint Eastwood for President as an independent!

[mystang52]

As a HUGE fan of Clint (I'm sure I've seen The Good The Bad and The Ugly well over 200 times), I told my wife after the commercial that my next car will now have to be a Chrysler, even though I generally don't like their products. But I can't refuse Clint.

On a serious note, I was surprised by the fallout from that ad. I am not a supporter of our current President, but I did not see a political message in that commercial. To me, it was just a good advertising pitch, using patriotism and a generally revered actor to convince people to buy their product.

[Brat]

I think that some politicians protest too much. They undermined their arguments, calling attention to the economic progress that has been made.

[Midpack]

There's very little that's not overblown in politics and the media these days...

I expect Porky to show up soon, and there's nothing FIRE about this thread.

[MichaelB]

Just a reminder to keep politics out of forum discussions.

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 Clint Eastwood for President as an independent!

+1

That would make my day!

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB Just a reminder to keep politics out of forum discussions.

Does this include mentioning our disgust with politics in general? After all, we're not being partisan...

[Nords]

What the heck has happened to his voice? I know he's 81 years old, but he sounded like he'd had surgery on his vocal cords...

I think the commercial was an intriguing waste of time & money. In other words, a great marketing success.

[james7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR I must have been on beer break when the commercial aired... The auto bailout is a political football for both parties. Be that as it may, I hope the Big 3 can redeem themselves by making cars people want, and keeping the lid on the cost structure in good times, so they can withstand not-so-good times. As for patriotic cheerleading, I generally find it unseemly...

The big 3 don't need to redeem themselves, just the big 2, because Ford didn't take any bailout money. The big 2 only need to do one thing to redeem themselves and that is to pay back all the money that the taxpayers lent to them ASAP. It would also be nice if they gave the government a little extra, a nice gesture.

While I am on the subject, does anyone know if Chrysler paid back all or most of the money lent to them by the government? I thought it was paid back, or going to happen soon, but Karl Rove said they still owe the government over one billion dollars and its not coming back.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords What the heck has happened to his voice? I know he's 81 years old, but he sounded like he'd had surgery on his vocal cords... I think the commercial was an intriguing waste of time & money. In other words, a great marketing success.

I saw him recently in an interview and his voice was normal, so my first thought was he is just acting and this was his Walt Kowalski voice, which suits the nature of the commercial.

[Texas Proud]

I was late getting to the SB, so I was trying to make up time...

When this commercial started, it did not look interesting at all.. so I skipped it... I do not see any reason to go watch it...


As an overall view of the SB commercials.... I was disappointed by most.. the one that I thought was in the spirit of a SB commercial was the Acura one, but I had already seen that one since they sent it to me a week or so ago... I am sure there is one or two I am forgetting now, but this was a bad year for commercials and a great year for the game... opposite the normal SB....

[HFWR]

By "redeem themselves" I meant be profitable, ongoing businesses, providing jobs, and a ROI for investors.

[ChiliPepr]

Funny thing is... I think the commercial was filmed in New Orleans.

[ERD50]

Here's the text (last paragraph is a comment from the site), a bit easier to absorb/analyze than the video, IMO:

The 2012 Chrysler Super Bowl Ad: Halftime in America via Clint Eastwood

It’s halftime. Both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half.
It’s halftime in America, too. People are out of work and they’re hurting. And they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback. And we’re all scared, because this isn’t a game.

The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again.

I’ve seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of downturns in my life. And, times when we didn’t understand each other. It seems like we’ve lost our heart at times. When the fog of division, discord, and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead.

But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right, and acted as one. Because that’s what we do. We find a way through tough times, and if we can’t find a way, then we’ll make one.

All that matters now is what’s ahead. How do we come from behind? How do we come together? And, how do we win?

Detroit’s showing us it can be done. And, what’s true about them is true about all of us.

This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it’s halftime America. And, our second half is about to begin.

Some have noticed that the voiceover never mentions Chrysler. This may have been a condition imposed by Clint Eastwood, who does not do advertisements.


-ERD50

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ripper1 What did you all think of the Clint Eastwood commercial. Some people tried to make it political. I thought it was very patriotic.

Clint Eastwood is hands down the most handsome, sexiest human being in the entire universe. Sorry, guys, nobody else even comes close. He's even more handsome when he is doing his "tough guy" persona as in this commercial.

In addition, I am a former federal employee and patriotic to a fault.

What did I think of the commercial? After I swoon, regain my composure, and then fan myself for a while, I'll let you know watch it again.

[ERD50]

So now that I've read the text, I don't think it's hard to imagine someone reading it with a political bent. It's a little like those optical illusions - do you see two faces or a wine glass? Whatever you see first tends to 'stick' and is reinforced.


He refers to 'Both teams' as a parallel to our lives, but says this isn't a game. That sure sounds like a reference to two political parties. If it was just about Americans coming together to overcome hard times, then who are the 'two teams'? We would all be one team, working together, no?

The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything.' OK, my mind almost fills that sentence in - 'They almost lost everything, but the government came in and saved them'.

And, times when we didn’t understand each other. Again, this seems like some sort of 'us versus them'. Who isn't understanding each other? Wouldn't we work together to overcome hard times? It seems reasonable to me to suggest they could be referring to the two political parties.

Detroit’s showing us it can be done. And, what’s true about them is true about all of us. Could be read as: 'The govt saved Detroit, and we can count on them to save the rest of America, if we let them'.

Yeah, it’s halftime America. And, our second half is about to begin. Again, if you start down this path, that sure could be read as a reference to the first and second terms of an administration.

I'm not trying to be political with those comments, I'm just trying to illustrate how it could be read. I kind of heard some of that as I listened the first time. I think it comes across stronger on analysis. But it might not have been intended that way at all, I have no idea. It's just a possibility, and not a far-out one, AFAIAC.

I have not heard any comments on this one way or the other on the 'wing' radio stations - I like to flip back and forth between them sometimes, just to hear the different takes on things.


Oh, as to the comments on Clint's voice - I think he was trying to sound more like Clint Eastwood than Clint Eastwood does! He is a great actor/director (I still need to see his recent war movies), and I wouldn't mind a bit if I woke up one day with his rugged good looks


-ERD50

[M Paquette]

Some people see everything through ideological beer goggles. Some people are idiots. But I repeat myself...

(With apologies to Samuel Clemens.)

I thought it was a perfectly nice message. But I'm the only person I know who was ever thrown out of a major political party...