Detroit

How awesome was Sunday’s game? I looked forward to the Super Bowl for the full two weeks after the conference championships, but I did not expect a great game. It usually isn’t. That it was was a bonus.

The greatness I did expect was from the advertisers. I worked for an ad agency when I was in college and thought about making a career out of it (but was dissuaded by the volatility and high burnout rate*), and I still enjoy effective, creative advertising. My pick for best ad of the game? Imported from Detroit by Chrysler.

*So I went to work in the tech industry instead. Go figure. I think about going back to advertising every time I watch an episode of Mad Men**. 

**Whether you’re a fan of Mad Men or not, you are probably a fan of sex. If you are, you should give this article from Mad Men star Christina Hendricks a read. In fact, if you are a man, commit her advice to memory.

Perhaps this is a sentimental decision since I spent two years of grad school living just outside of Detroit and the two preceding years living well within its rustbelt influence. While in grad school, I even did a consulting project for Chrysler*. 

*Where I was forced to park my Japanese-made car in a distant, “competitive cars” parking lot and came away wondering whether anything could save such a screwed up company. What I did know was that it was going to take way more than whatever little bit six MBA students could contribute.

Living in Michigan, I saw first hand just how bad things are in Detroit. Things were so bad, in fact, that at the time, people actually thought Kwame Kilpatrick could improve them. And it’s only got worse since then. This is a city that needs a break. It relies on an industry that needs a break. But the only way they’re going to get a break is if they earn it. Which is why I love this ad: it tells a great story, and the story is, they’re up to the task.


So are they up to it? Time will tell. But it was enough to make me think about buying a type of car I’ve never considered from a manufacturer I’d never have previously considered. I can’t help but think some consumers will be convinced enough to actually buy one. I hope for the sake of the city that they are enough.