Chrysler takes patriotic road with popular Super Bowl ads

Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne flew about 10 hours from meetings in Europe so he could attend a company party at a bar, where senior management and their families watched the ads being aired during the Super Bowl.

The company said in its 2011 annual report that the improved brand equity generated by such campaigns as the Eminem commercial, which touted the comeback of Detroit while showing its American-made Chrysler 200 sedan, have helped boost demand for higher-profit vehicles.

While Chrysler may be controlled by an Italian company, Marchionne assured Detroit radio station WJR in a Monday interview that the automaker "is as American as it was when it was founded and it will stay that way forever.

"Those commercials, by the way, as much as I think they're important for the brands and for the positioning of the group are equally important for the re-grounding of our own people," added Marchionne, who was heavily involved in the development of the Eminem ad two years ago.

Chrysler did not immediately answer questions about how the ads were created.

TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

Super Bowl advertisers paid CBS Corp, which broadcast the Baltimore Ravens victory over the San Francisco 49ers, an average of $4 million for a 30-second spot.

Even with discounts, Chrysler spent more than $20 million for its two ads, Horizon Media analyst Brad Adgate estimated. That would be up from the $14.6 million and $12.4 million Kantar Media

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