Public Question
Deanna Lawrence
VW Darth Vader certainly was leading in emotional connections on Super Bowl Sunday. Positive sentiment was at that time 31.1%, far stronger than any other Ad. This level of emotional connection is what persuaded a higher level of sharing.
Chrysler’s ad was wonderfully engaging for the Super Bowl audience, faring more than 32,000 tweets. The Ad disrupted a negative perception and challenged viewers to rethink Chrysler and Detroit. Still, this may not have stirred enough emotion, with a 16.5 % positive sentiment, to provoke higher levels of sharing.
Worked best...VW for emotional connection and Chrysler for engagement.
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THE BEST
Chrysler's IMPORTED FROM DETROIT (BORN OF FIRE) and Volkswagen's THE FORCE.
The entire room of fifteen guests at the super bowl viewing party fell silent as the Chrysler commercial unfolded on screen.
Genuinely provocative and beautifully photographed, the menacing soundtrack taken from Eminem’s catalog makes way to a vaguely uplifting gospel, an apt metaphor for the ongoing redefinition of the city of Detroit, and by extension, the Chrysler brand.
Though the resurrection narrative is familiar, the storytelling was tense and compelling, pulling at all of the right emotions.
Its faintly pro-labor sentiments juxtaposed with a preoccupation with luxury, the commercial in one shot evocatively combines the melancholy of Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and Goodbye Lenin with the working-class heroism of Thomas Hart Benton - as exemplified by the powerful image of the iconic Joe Louis memorial (the suspended bronze arm and fist) - a remarkable transition from what has become a typically dystopian view of the American rustbelt.
Though this spot was not my personal favorite, and the narrative fizzled by the final shot, by all accounts, the ad makers got it right. Viewers noticed, they remembered, and I certainly think that these same viewers will think more positively about the brand.
Given that well over 30% of Detroit lives in poverty, it's somewhat distasteful that Chrysler should profit from their misery. It’s poverty porn at its most insidious, which is why my first choice actually goes to Volkswagen’s THE FORCE.
The commercial's pleasing simplicity and excellent pay-off reward the viewer: a young boy in a Darth Vader costume attempts to use the mythical power of "the force" to impose his will on a variety of animate and inanimate household objects, only to be thoroughly baffled by the family car's response to his endeavors. Through this tribute to Star Wars, we are transported into a playful world of childhood fantasy and mischief, seen from two perspectives (the child and the father). The consequences are harmless though memorable, invoking a warm emotional response. That’s effective advertising, isn't it?
Honorable mention goes to CarMax’s KID IN A CANDY STORE - besides the amusing storyline, the casting was excellent and cheerfully over the top; as well as Motorola’s EMPOWER THE PEOPLE - for a beautifully created spot whose aesthetics truly stood out from the rest of the pack.
