Behind the scenes in the Clint Eastwood ad
James Stewart, writing in the New York Times, has an interesting piece detailing how Chrysler executives and dealers were blindsided by accusations that the now-infamous Clint Eastwood ad was politically motivated.
Before the Super Bowl, the ad had been previewed by Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne for some 700 Chrysler dealers at their annual meeting in Las Vegas. The lights went down, the two-minute ad played on large screens in the conference hall, and after it ended, Marchionne told the crowd, ““Nothing more needs to be said.”
I’ll let Mr. Stewart pick up the story there:
“Overcome by emotion, he bowed his head and turned his back to the audience, according to those present, and there was a moment of stunned silence. It was the first time anyone had seen the video outside a closely guarded circle. Then the dealers rose and started applauding, an ovation that went on for several minutes.
Mr. Marchionne “cried, and then he left the room,” recalled David Kelleher, president of the Chrysler National Dealer Council and of David Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Glen Mills, Pa. “We were all crying, crying and applauding at the same time. We were blown away. We knew what he was talking about. We’d all been through hell and back. No one was more publicly flogged than we were. We were failing. And here we are. We’re making money.”
We all know what happened next. The ad was shown during the Super Bowl. Conservatives for some reason took offense at the celebration of a recovering America. Karl Rove went on Fox News to complain how offended he felt that Chrysler executives “feel they need to do something to repay their political patrons.”
Mr. Stewart again:
“But the $80 billion lent to the two companies came from the administrations of both President George W. Bush and President Obama. And as it happened, Mr. Bush, whom Mr. Rove served in the White House, was addressing the auto dealers in Las Vegas the same day that Mr. Rove took to the airwaves. “I’d do it again,” the former president said of his decision to bail out the auto industry. “I didn’t want there to be 21 percent unemployment.”
Chrysler executives were incensed by Mr. Rove’s remarks. “The former spokesperson was attacking not only a short video, but the essence of the bailout of Chrysler and G.M. while his former boss, the former president, was saying exactly the opposite,” a Chrysler spokesman, Gualberto Ranieri, pointed out to me.
Mr. Kelleher,Mr. Kelleher is a Republican, but said he wasn’t especially political and was dumbfounded by attacks on “Halftime in America.”
“My customers loved it,” Mr. Kelleher said. “I’ve heard from a chorus of people. They filled up my Facebook page. They thought it was monumental. The American people will see this ad for what it is and they’re going to rally behind an American icon that was scarred and down and now it’s risen again.”
Mr. Kelleher, the Chrysler dealer quoted above, said that he and his fellow dealers, many of them Republican like himself, were so angry about the criticism that they drafted a public statement released on behalf of the company’s 2,300 dealers.
The video, they wrote, “was designed to relate to those still suffering the effects of the recession, that they may be buoyed by our example and they may find the courage to endure through to similar success going forward.”
“We have no doubt that this ad had no political agenda of any kind but rather a statement of fact and hope for the future for all of us and America.”
But these days, you can’t make “a statement of fact and hope for the future for all of us and America” without being attacked for making a political statement.
– Jay Bookman
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914 comments Add your comment
Brosephus
February 11th, 2012
10:39 am
I didn’t find anything political about it, and I applaud Chrysler and Eastwood for putting it together. To hell with anybody who saw political motive behind it. People are entitled to believe whatever they choose, but I’ll take the word of the people who were actually responsible for the video any day over Karl Rove and others.
Brosephus
February 11th, 2012
10:40 am
Jay
Not related to the topic, but here’s one you should hold onto for whenever the need arises here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-white-people/2012/01/20/gIQAmlu53Q_story_1.html
Kamchak
February 11th, 2012
10:46 am
It was an advertisement designed to get people to buy a product.
Geez….
USinUK
February 11th, 2012
10:47 am
‘Conservatives for some reason took offense at the celebration of a recovering America.”
“for some reason”, indeed.
they want to be miserable … or, to use their favorite word, they want to wallow in the “malaise”
that way they can blame Obama.
once people start to pull together again, to feel optimistic, they know they’ve been beaten.
effing wankers.
0311/1811
February 11th, 2012
10:48 am
“TWO MINUTE WARNING”
“”Let me get this straight . . .
We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care
plan we are forced to purchase and
fined if we don’t,
Which purportedly covers at least
ten million more people,
without adding a single new doctor,
but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,
written by a committee whose chairman
says he doesn’t understand it,
passed by a Congress that didn’t read it but
exempted themselves from it,
and signed by a President who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who
didn’t pay his taxes,
for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any
benefits take effect,
by a government which has
already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare,
all to be overseen by a surgeon general
who is obese,
and financed by a country that’s broke!!!!!
‘What the hell could possibly go wrong?’”
wet wiccan
February 11th, 2012
10:49 am
Jay
How did your “real state of the union” speech go last night? Any videos?
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
February 11th, 2012
10:50 am
Well, I think it was a sneaky way for Obama to get a campaign ad in and make it look like a car co. ad. Heck, we all know how bad the economy is under Obama. Now it might be a OK economy as it is under a Conservative President, but it’s lousy under Obama. We need a godly Republican in the White House, even if it’s Mr. Mormon Underpants. And we don’t need voters thinking things is getting better. If they think that they’ll vote for Obama in November. And then the next day here will come No. 1 Foxy Lady on this blog and she’ll tell us all to . . . well, you know.
Have a good Saturday everybody. And I want this Clint Eastwood to get on TV and give us Republicans a big apology for shilling for Obama.
MIKE HAGEBAK
February 11th, 2012
10:57 am
the ad was wonderful. the only reason the conservatives are mad is that they didn’t think of it.
Robert
February 11th, 2012
10:59 am
Hey Redneck Convert: Does that (R–and proud of it) stand for Racist? And believe me, Mr. Eastwood is way out of your league and class!
0311/1811
February 11th, 2012
11:03 am
Yes it’s “halftime” ………… but the game doesn’t end there. Two teams have to come out and finish it and there are no ties.
We had the first four years and the Republicans are behind in the score ……….. but it ain’t over until the last tick of the game clock.
Either we win this next “half” and the game or our country is in very serious trouble.
D. Salas
February 11th, 2012
11:04 am
NOTHING about this ad to me was political. I felt pride for this wonderful country of ours that things can turn around after rough times. Mr. Eastwood did a splendid job getting this message across. Yes, a car company paid for the ad, but it was geared towards AMERICAN principals – down but not out. Shame on those conservative talk shows for seeing something in this that wasn’t there….and I consider myself conservative and listen to them all the time. God Bless America!
R Brown
February 11th, 2012
11:04 am
Jay, I thought the commercial was inspiring. Not only for the automaker’s future but inspiring to Americans and the outlook for tomorrow. It’s great that a corporate entity realizes that this recession hurt a lot of Americans and to relate that to the country going into the second half of the recovery to the recent upticks in the economy was brilliant and appropriate. It is unfortunate that the Republican party continues to thumb their noses at the hurt and downtrodden. They see boogeymen at every turn. All under the guise of “taking back their country”. And lest we all forget, I’ll remind you. If it was up to the Republicans, there would be no General Motors today. There would be tens of thousands out of work as a result and the United States would be less of a producer and more of a consumer nation.
I applaud the commercial and Clint Eastwood for letting people see that we’re all in this together and the turnaround of a great company can also equate to the turnaround of a Great Nation.
0311/1811
February 11th, 2012
11:05 am
By the way, the Dems. have home field advantage (the national press minus Fox) and the refs. are throwing a lot of yellow flags our way (trampling on the Constitution) but we are hanging in there ……………………. remember, the election is in NOVEMBER.
0311/1811
February 11th, 2012
11:08 am
“we’re all in this together”
Nope ……….. there are some who want to change this country into something truly ugly and there are others who want it to remain an economic and freedom loving example to the world.
So we are NOT all in this together or we wouldn’t be having such a divisive election.
Wizdad
February 11th, 2012
11:09 am
It made me proud our country, proud of our workers, and proud of an administration that has the ability to save a nation from unimaginable depression.
Cobb Mom
February 11th, 2012
11:10 am
I had one comment when the commercial finished, it was awesome. I didn’t feel any political connection just pride in my country for the first time in over 12 years. Wait, I did feel pride when we elected a gentleman of a “darker skin tone” during my lifetime.
Larry
February 11th, 2012
11:12 am
Gee maybe FORD lives within its means and can’t afford to pay for such ads. While Chevy
& Chrysler use our bailout money Hey ; do you know any small businesses that didn’t have a UNION get bailout payoffs ?
Don
February 11th, 2012
11:12 am
Yep, Eastwood’s a shill. Chrysler should have gone bankrupt. Bush was wrong and so is Obama. I will buy Ford’s or foreign. Just rode with a friend in his Toyota truck who told me that he used to buy American by conviction, but it just got financially impossible to continue to replace motors and engines in the detroit junk at less than 100k when the Toys run over 200k easy.
Doggone/GA
February 11th, 2012
11:13 am
Robert – before you go off the deep end…Redneck Convert is our local satirist.
ty webb
February 11th, 2012
11:14 am
I like Clint Eastwood, he’s a national treasure…having said that, there’s nothing “Filo Bedo” could ever say to persuade me to buy a Chrysler.
Jay
February 11th, 2012
11:14 am
Wiccan, it seemed to go well. A full house, great questions. But no video, I’m afraid.
Kamchak
February 11th, 2012
11:16 am
“I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!”
– Thomas Jefferson
Mike
February 11th, 2012
11:16 am
Chrysler has a $3.5 billion government loan guarantee proposal being considered by the Obama administration. You are a fool if you can’t connect the dots to see why Chrysler would spend $12 million on a feel good ad that had all of Obama’s staff high five-ing each other after the ad ran.
This was a payback to the Chicago Machine and the most corrupt President since Nixon!
Rove was only commenting on the Obama reaction to the ad and their blatant efforts to politicize it, not on the efficacy of the bailout or Clint Eastwood’s intention. Go back and watch the clips!!
Oh good grief!
February 11th, 2012
11:16 am
To the poster who said this is a sneaky way for Obama to get in an ad, how ridiculous. That implies whoever was involved supports Obama and is willing to secretly conspire on creation of such an ad, or consciously go along with a political agenda that favors Obama, including Clint Eastwood who is a Republican.
No, I agree with USinUK. ‘Conservatives for some reason took offense at the celebration of a recovering America….they want to be miserable … or, to use their favorite word, they want to wallow in the “malaise”…that way they can blame Obama. Once people start to pull together again, to feel optimistic, they know they’ve been beaten.
Right on USinUK! Karl Rove et al don’t want any celebrating, no cheer, no hope. No focus on the needs of the people lest it destroy their master plan to strip all Americans of homes, salary and any hope of getting ahead.
That would be a threat to their plan to lower our standards to third world status and achieve slave labor on a grand scale. And ruin the greatness of this country, which is the wellness of the people.
ByteMe
February 11th, 2012
11:18 am
Let me get this straight: the 24/7 Political Commenterati class saw something political in the ad and are outraged — OUTRAGED, I tell you — by it. I’m shocked. Really. Shocked. Really.
But if you push them on why they are outraged, it can be summed up this way: we’re upset because the ad’s very effective message of “America in a time of renewal” runs counter to our message of “America is in decline as long as Obama is in office.” And thus, the ad must be political.
Must be terrible when everyone else’s facts run counter to your faith-based belief system. Kind of like finding out the earth is older than 6000 years old, huh?
Lord Help Us
February 11th, 2012
11:18 am
James Stewart needs to be focused on supercross in San Diego tonight…how he has time to write a column is beyond me.
That said, shame on ‘Americans’ who disparage America.
Jane Marek
February 11th, 2012
11:19 am
Having a bad actor like clint eastwood who’s claim to fame was movies of him being a looser acoholic and owner of a monkey or running around as a gun slinger shoot ‘em up mentality, shows not only is the crysler executives people of poor judgement but also says volumes about Americans who follow them . No wonder America has just a few rich and everyone else struggling – they followers are following the followers.
ty webb
February 11th, 2012
11:21 am
George Costanza is Chrysler’s all-time bestest spokesperson…he bought John Voight’s old Lebaron.
ByteMe
February 11th, 2012
11:21 am
Having a bad actor like clint eastwood who’s claim to fame was movies of him being a looser acoholic and owner of a monkey or running around as a gun slinger shoot ‘em up mentality
Clearly someone has never actually seen all of his movies or spotted him receiving his multiple Oscars. Or chooses to ignore those moments.
Brenda
February 11th, 2012
11:22 am
Nothing political about the commercial. Just a little pep talk.
R Brown
February 11th, 2012
11:23 am
Brenda – In your simplicity, you are profound
dparks
February 11th, 2012
11:24 am
Like ‘Kamchak’ stated – it was just an ad. An ad produced by Libs for Libs and with a message attempting to mask, or as is usually done by Libs, completely obfuscate an issue; in this case, giant overreaching government grants (aka: U.S. Taxpayer dollars) to political cronies, PACs, and union thugs.
Fact is, car companies come and go – IF it’s a good viable and worthy product, then another entity will appear to ‘capitalize’ on the typcially mis-managed company, and then work to make that company again successful. Capitalism works – Too bad the Socialist in Chief, his extremist-filled administration, and completely ignorant supporters would rather choose to interject and further GROW an already bloated government. Fools.
Kamchak
February 11th, 2012
11:24 am
CPAC Rap
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/02/10/ive-never-been-more-ashamed-to-be-white/
And yes I know, the lyrics say “knickers.”
ByteMe
February 11th, 2012
11:26 am
An ad produced by Libs for Libs and with a message attempting to mask, or as is usually done by Libs,
Someone has a reading comprehension problem. You might try reading how the Chrysler dealers and President Bush — Republicans all — saw it. And maybe try turning off your blinders to reality. I know, that last part’s gonna be hard to do.
Erwin's cat
February 11th, 2012
11:26 am
a hammer sees a world of nails
Lord Help Us
February 11th, 2012
11:26 am
‘Too bad the Socialist in Chief, his extremist-filled administration, and completely ignorant supporters would rather choose to interject and further GROW an already bloated government. Fools.’
Many a GWB supporter may be taking umbrage…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 11th, 2012
11:26 am
but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,
How many times must a false talking point be posted and disproven? I guess when someone does not apply any brain power to thinking before they post, they really just want to talk up space with lies and posts of pure meaningless drivel.
Oh wait, its Scout who posted this nonsense drivel and lie…why am I not surprised.
IamInDecatur
February 11th, 2012
11:26 am
Wow, this almost sounds like people are thinking. Great discussion! Thanks Clint, Redneck Convert, Cobb Mom
realistic_and_objective
February 11th, 2012
11:27 am
Chrysler paid back the loans, ahem? Why are there so many enemies of Obama on these blogs??
Bush was to blame for the economic mess with the war loans from China to go into Iraq (did it for them – for oil). Remember we only get 9% of our oil from the Middle East. But we sell much more to other countries – that’s why we(ahem, our companies) are there.Obama passed a long sought Democratic dream, the Health Care act. But we all know it will not stand in it’s current form. Please support the president and therefore This Country. And Eastwood was great in the non-political ad.
Kamchak - "Socialism" is just a code word for "fear," the monster under you bed ~ Kamchak
February 11th, 2012
11:29 am
Like ‘Kamchak’ stated – it was just an ad. An ad produced by Libs for Libs and with a message attempting to mask, or as is usually done by Libs, completely obfuscate an issue; in this case, giant overreaching government grants (aka: U.S. Taxpayer dollars) to political cronies, PACs, and union thugs.
It was just an ad, sport.
Find someone else to piggy back your nonsense on, as I never advocated any of that “idiotlogical” crap
ByteMe
February 11th, 2012
11:29 am
a hammer sees a world of nails
Exactly.
AmVet - Read my lips. No new neo-cons.
February 11th, 2012
11:30 am
In my useless opinion, Karl Rove is a despicable human being and exhibit number one of what is wrong with that dysfunctional, self-serving, crime-riddled organization.
The fat little troll perfectly epitomizes those disgusting, repulsive cowards and deadly chickenhawk incompetents in the worst administration in modern, if not all of US history.
The one that sent this nation swirling down the toilet.
And as I’ve noted before, here is to hoping their is a very special place for those men in the “Christian’s” supposed hell…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 11th, 2012
11:31 am
Kam, wow those grandmothers sure had some deep voices and moves…… someone needs a gong and hook at their next meeting.
josef
February 11th, 2012
11:32 am
Evidently something not worth saying is not worth saying twice… ooops!
Anyway, ROBERT,
The Duk-sha-nee thinks he’s being funny…
As for the Eastwood ad, hey Scout, funny how his membership in a certain suspect “hate group” isn’t being brought up, eh?
And, Jane…
Well, everybody to his/her own opinion, but methinks Shirley McClaine might disagree with you…along with several million other film critics and aficianados…
Osina
February 11th, 2012
11:33 am
(Chrysler paid back the loans, ahem?)
Ahem, no it did not. Check..
http://reason.com/blog/2010/04/30/reasontv-how-did-gm-pay-back-i
Kamchak
February 11th, 2012
11:33 am
Keep
The dancing standing granny with the fanny pack is hilarious.
Kamchak
February 11th, 2012
11:36 am
Duk-sha-nee — Cherokee name meaning “he who walks on water.”
LegoLady
February 11th, 2012
11:37 am
Wow! It’s funny how a report on a Chrysler ad is somehow twisted into anti-God or faith bashing by Liberals. Did I say funny? I meant sad. You are all SO much smarter than everyone else. ::snicker::
Lord Help Us
February 11th, 2012
11:37 am
I think the reason cons are poutraged about this ad and the contraception issue is this:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html
and this:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_gingrich_vs_obama-1453.html
and this:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_santorum_vs_obama-2912.html
josef
February 11th, 2012
11:38 am
K’chak
Way to go, wa’-do!