Detroit News regrets caving to its advertiser

The Detroit News got a pretty bad black eye yesterday, when Jalopnik reported that the paper had tried to appease a dealership by watering down a review of the Chrysler 200 — aka, Eminem's car from the Super Bowl ad shown below. The auto critic, Scott Burgess, had reportedly resigned over the issue, and now the newspaper's publisher says he regrets the entire incident. "Our intent was to make an editing improvement and we obviously handled it poorly," Publisher Jonathan Wolman wrote to Jalopnik. "We should have let the online version of his review stand as written, as we did the print version." According to two of the blog's sources within the newspaper, Burgess' scathing review was edited online after the paper received a call from an auto dealership that advertises with the News. Several lines were then removed from the online version, such as, "It's vastly improved, but that's only because it was so horrendous before." All in all, this is shaping up to be a bad month for Chrysler, who — through no fault of its own — keeps getting dragged into online controversies like last week's F-bomb tweet.

Filed under Chrysler, Controversy, Griner, Newspapers
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Chrysler throws down an F-bomb on Twitter

Whoever was manning Chrysler's official Twitter account on Wednesday morning apparently sucked down too much #TigerBlood before work. "I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to fucking drive," the brand tweeted, much to the surprise of its nearly 8,000 followers. Turns out an employee from New Media Strategies sent out the R-rated tweet (having apparently just suffered through a difficult morning commute), and was promptly fired. Chrysler later apologized, saying: "Chrysler Group and its brands do not tolerate inappropriate language or behavior, and apologize to anyone who may have been offended by this communication." The profanity is one thing—but just as weird is how ludicrously at odds this tweet was with Chrysler's current brand messaging of celebrating Detroit, as seen in its Super Bowl spot with Eminem (who might have approved of the rogue message, actually). What do you think of this? Can any brand use profanity on Twitter—and if so, which brands and when? Via Jalopnik.
  UPDATE: Chrysler said Thursday that it has fired New Media Strategies (i.e., will not renew its contract when it's up), presumably because of this incident. Also, Chrysler has clarified on its blog that it did not request that the culpable NMS employee be fired—that was NMS's decision. But the automaker also makes it clear that the offending tweet was unacceptable. "Why were we so sensitive?" reads the post. "That commercial featuring the Chrysler 200, Eminem and the City of Detroit wasn't just an act of salesmanship. This company is committed to promoting Detroit and its hard-working people. The reaction to that commercial, the catchphrase 'imported from Detroit,' and the overall positive messages it sent has been volcanic. ... With so much goodwill built up over a very short time, we can’t afford to backslide now and jeopardize this progress."
  UPDATE 2: Pete Snyder, CEO of New Media Strategies, offers this statement: "New Media Strategies regrets this unfortunate incident. It certainly doesn't accurately reflect the overall high-quality work we have produced for Chrysler. We respect their decision and will work with them to ensure an effective transition of this business going forward."

Filed under Automotive, Chrysler, Controversy, Nudd, Social media, Twitter
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BBDO Australia cooks up 'Yes We Can' sale

Advertising loves to capture the zeitgeist, and then twist it into something unrecognizable. Stands to reason that advertisers would glom on to the inspiration collectively felt by the inauguration of Barack Obama. Clemenger BBDO in Australia, however, might have stepped over the line just a bit. It incorporates a fake politician narrator and Obama's familiar "Yes, We Can" slogan to hawk Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge cars during—and it pains me to type this— the "Yes We Can" sale, going on now through March. There's also a Web site. Kudos to Alisa Leonard-Hansen for digging up this atrocity.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Filed under Barack Obama, BBDO, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Morrissey
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You'd buy anything from Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban died yesterday, so we'll honor his memory by posting this ad for the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba. That may not seem like much of a tribute, but just stop and think about every Chrysler you've ever owned, and the company's financial performance over the past decade. That Ricardo managed to make one of their cars sound like the most decadent vehicle since Caligula's chariot is pretty impressive. Plus, it was either this or something from The Wrath of Khan, which didn't seem fair.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Filed under Chrysler, Kiefaber, Obituaries
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Chrysler minivan helps save pocket ponies

Given the abundance of videos featuring "kinetic type" that have been bouncing around the Internet, I'm a bit surprised that I haven't seen this animation style pop up in a mainstream ad. (If there's been one, feel free to correct me in the comments.) Now, the Chrysler Town & Country, of all things, is being promoted with a typographical joy ride involving a lost pony. It's a nice spot with great delivery, even if the narrator's random praise for the minivan sounds a bit forced. This online spot, created by Organic and running during shows downloaded from ABC.com, seems to be the first installment in a series. If so, I just hope that nice couple and the pony don't end up in the vengeful clutches of a foul-mouthed Walter Sobchak.

—Posted by David Griner

Filed under Automotive, Chrysler, Griner, Organic, Web video
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