WASHINGTON — Chrysler’s chief executive is insisting his company’s Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood has “zero political content,” even though members of the advertising team that created the spot have ties to President Obama.
Democrats, including the White House, cheered “Halftime in America” and its upbeat message in which Eastwood offers the auto industry comeback as proof of America’s resilience. Many Republicans, though, panned it, calling it payback for the government bailout Chrysler received in 2008. And Eastwood confirmed CEO Sergio Marchionne’s contention that the ad was not an endorsement of any candidate.
“We are as apolitical as you can make us,” Marchionne said in a radio interview in Detroit yesterday. “I wasn’t expressing a view and certainly nobody inside Chrysler was attempting to influence decisions.”
Eastwood echoed Marchionne’s comments.
“I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama,” Eastwood told Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” “It was meant to be a message ... just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it.”
Still, the advertising agency that created the commercial — Wieden + Kennedy — has members who have designed Obama campaign items or who have worked on behalf of Democratic causes.
The creative minds behind the ad are in the agency’s Portland, Ore., branch. Aaron Allen designed a poster for the 2008 Obama campaign and Jimm Lasser designed a basketball sneaker called the “Obama Force One,” with an image of the president on the soles and the message “A Black Man Runs and a Nation Is Behind Him.” Lasser displayed the shoe in a 2008 gallery exhibition with the tagline “The Dunk on McCain.”
Elsewhere at Wieden + Kennedy, which has Kraft and Coca-Cola on its client list, global public relations director Joani Wardwell worked in the press office of the Clinton White House. She started as a grassroots organizer for Democratic causes in the early 1990s and continues to do political consulting.
“I’ve managed to always keep my toe dipped in the water that way,” she said in 2009.
The Wieden + Kennedy spot set itself apart in two ways: its length — two minutes, compared with the standard 30 seconds — and its powerful message.
“Detroit’s showing us it can be done,” Eastwood tells the audience. “And, what’s true about them is true about all of us ... This country can’t be knocked out with one punch.”
American carmakers have seen better times since receiving taxpayer funds. Collectively, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford sold slightly more than 6 million vehicles last year, a 15 percent increase over 2010. However, taxpayers will never recover about $20 billion of the $80 billion spent on the bailout, according to a recent government report.
Obama has increasingly highlighted his role in keeping the auto industry alive after many analysts believed it — and the millions of jobs it supports — was on its last legs. The president frequently brings up Detroit as an achievement on the campaign trail and made it a centerpiece of his State of the Union address.
It was no surprise, then, that the ad was a hit with the West Wing, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer tweeting: “Saving the America auto industry: Something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on.”
A top Republican had a far different take.
Karl Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush, told Fox News yesterday he was “frankly offended” by the commercial and called it an example of “Chicago-style politics” in which the president and “his political minions” were being repaid by Chrysler for the taxpayer money the company received.
But not every Republican thinks there’s such a clear-cut relationship.
“It’s only natural that people ask that question given how much this dovetails with the president’s own re-election narrative,” said Bruce Haynes, a GOP media strategist.
Haynes, though, dismissed the notion there was any active coordination, adding, “I think that it’s a bit of stretch to suggest that an agency in Portland did an ad about a car company in Detroit that’s owned by Fiat in Italy to fulfill the wills and aims of the White House in Washington.”
– With Kyle Stock
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*** PLAY AT THE PLATE
A Giants fan shows love in license plate form before the big game in Indianapolis.
View Super Bowl 2012 Photo Gallery
Democrats, including the White House, cheered “Halftime in America” and its upbeat message in which Eastwood offers the auto industry comeback as proof of America’s resilience. Many Republicans, though, panned it, calling it payback for the government bailout Chrysler received in 2008. And Eastwood confirmed CEO Sergio Marchionne’s contention that the ad was not an endorsement of any candidate.
“We are as apolitical as you can make us,” Marchionne said in a radio interview in Detroit yesterday. “I wasn’t expressing a view and certainly nobody inside Chrysler was attempting to influence decisions.”
Eastwood echoed Marchionne’s comments.
“I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama,” Eastwood told Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” “It was meant to be a message ... just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it.”
Still, the advertising agency that created the commercial — Wieden + Kennedy — has members who have designed Obama campaign items or who have worked on behalf of Democratic causes.
The creative minds behind the ad are in the agency’s Portland, Ore., branch. Aaron Allen designed a poster for the 2008 Obama campaign and Jimm Lasser designed a basketball sneaker called the “Obama Force One,” with an image of the president on the soles and the message “A Black Man Runs and a Nation Is Behind Him.” Lasser displayed the shoe in a 2008 gallery exhibition with the tagline “The Dunk on McCain.”
Elsewhere at Wieden + Kennedy, which has Kraft and Coca-Cola on its client list, global public relations director Joani Wardwell worked in the press office of the Clinton White House. She started as a grassroots organizer for Democratic causes in the early 1990s and continues to do political consulting.
“I’ve managed to always keep my toe dipped in the water that way,” she said in 2009.
The Wieden + Kennedy spot set itself apart in two ways: its length — two minutes, compared with the standard 30 seconds — and its powerful message.
“Detroit’s showing us it can be done,” Eastwood tells the audience. “And, what’s true about them is true about all of us ... This country can’t be knocked out with one punch.”
American carmakers have seen better times since receiving taxpayer funds. Collectively, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford sold slightly more than 6 million vehicles last year, a 15 percent increase over 2010. However, taxpayers will never recover about $20 billion of the $80 billion spent on the bailout, according to a recent government report.
Obama has increasingly highlighted his role in keeping the auto industry alive after many analysts believed it — and the millions of jobs it supports — was on its last legs. The president frequently brings up Detroit as an achievement on the campaign trail and made it a centerpiece of his State of the Union address.
It was no surprise, then, that the ad was a hit with the West Wing, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer tweeting: “Saving the America auto industry: Something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on.”
A top Republican had a far different take.
Karl Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush, told Fox News yesterday he was “frankly offended” by the commercial and called it an example of “Chicago-style politics” in which the president and “his political minions” were being repaid by Chrysler for the taxpayer money the company received.
But not every Republican thinks there’s such a clear-cut relationship.
“It’s only natural that people ask that question given how much this dovetails with the president’s own re-election narrative,” said Bruce Haynes, a GOP media strategist.
Haynes, though, dismissed the notion there was any active coordination, adding, “I think that it’s a bit of stretch to suggest that an agency in Portland did an ad about a car company in Detroit that’s owned by Fiat in Italy to fulfill the wills and aims of the White House in Washington.”
– With Kyle Stock
MORE SUPER BOWL 2012 NEWS
*** RATINGS A HIT, NOT A RECORD
Super Bowl XLVI was watched by more viewers than any TV program in U.S. history — capturing 111.3 million people — but the television audience fell short of a ratings record percentage-wise. The game earned a 47.0 rating and a 71 share, a gain of 2 percent from last year’s 46.0/69 and is the highest-rated Super Bowl since 1986, when the Bears beat the Patriots.
*** OF MICE AND MEN
Eli Manning joins Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World after winning the Super Bowl.
*** SAFETY FIRST EQUALS A $50K VEGAS JACKPOT
A gambler won $50,000 after betting $1,000 at 50-1 odds that the first score in Sunday’s Super Bowl would be a safety. Jona Rechnitz placed his bet at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and cashed in when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was penalized for intentional grounding while throwing from the end zone — an automatic safety, good for two points and 50 grand.
*** GIANTS’ HEROIC TALE OF THE TICKER TAPE
New York City will throw the Giants a ticker-tape parade in lower Manhattan today, along a section of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes.” A ceremony will then be held at City Hall Plaza, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to present the Giants with keys to the city. The last ticker-tape parade in the city was to honor the Yankees in 2009.
*** GIANTS AND JETS
The world champions’ wide receiver Victor Cruz arrives by plane yesterday in Newark, N.J.
*** PATS’ OCHOCINCO IN TRAFFIC COURT
Patriots receiver Chad Ochocinco pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in Cincinnati hours after playing in the Super Bowl. A Hamilton County court bailiff says the former Cincinnati Bengal pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of failure to display a driver’s license during a July 21 traffic stop. The judge fined Ochocinco $200 and ordered him to pay $104 in court costs.
*** GIANTS ROOKIE TO TACKLE MARRIAGE
Greg Jones and his high school sweetheart both won rings on Super Bowl Sunday. The rookie linebacker proposed to his girlfriend as confetti streamed down on him and his victorious teammates on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Jones’ girlfriend, Amanda, said yes and then started crying. Jones said he would have waited for a better moment if the Giants had lost.
*** PLAY AT THE PLATE
A Giants fan shows love in license plate form before the big game in Indianapolis.
View Super Bowl 2012 Photo Gallery
