Eminem appeared in not one but two ads on Super Bowl Sunday. While the rapper was out in force, it was the Chrysler ad that was much more of a surprise than the Lipton Ice Tea ad, featuring him in the middle of the longest Super Bowl ad to ever air that was meant as a tribute to Detroit auto-works with his song Lose Yourself playing in the background.

“There was a secrecy around the spot on Chrysler’s end that was something they were concerned about,” said Andrew Hampp, Los Angeles bureau chief for Advertising Age magazine. “As much as the spot is about what it’s like in Detroit, it’s very much about having Eminem … and it wasn’t necessarily about a promotion for a particular vehicle, but I came away with a higher appreciation for the Chrysler brand.”

The message of the ad is clear: GM is going to help lead the comeback of the Detroit area which has been devastated in recent years through layoffs and economic ruin. It mirrors the career path of Eminem, who nearly lost his career to drug abuse and for whom ‘Relapse’ didn’t generate the sort of sales he had historically generated.

“Everybody realized that ‘Relapse’ was a very hard-core Eminem fan-based record, so the approach on the next album was to go wider,” said Eminem’s manager, Paul Rosenberg. “The songs fit a much more accessible format so that was the approach in marketing the record as well.”

Part of this plan is licensing Not Afraid for the NHL’s Stanley Cup final, Spike’s Ultimate Fighting Championship, ESPN’s basketball playoffs and HBO’s sports docu-series 24/7, while Won’t Back Down was featured in ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While Slim Shady doesn’t necessarily play to all generations, his cultural cache and ties to his hometown were key to his participation.

“If anything, the spot did a good job coming up with a way to reposition Chrysler. … He’s authentic to a younger generation, which is what Chrysler needs, said Hampp. The toughest demo for them is not grandmothers, but younger kids who already listen to Eminem and might otherwise buy foreign cars.”

Source: MTV