Every game-changing relationship has an arc that eventually dwindles, and maybe even ends. Obama-Clinton. Manning-Colts. Kardashian-Humphries.

That may be the case with Chysler-Detroit. Even as the company has been moving some of its suburban employees to downtown Motown, Chrysler marketers are signaling a change in the three-year-old, market-changing relationship between Chrysler and the city that helped the brand and the company back up off the canvas and played a huge role in returning Chrysler to long-term viability.

"There are three words in 'Imported From Detroit,'" Olivier Francois, Chrysler Group's CMO, recently told brandchannel. "Everyone thinks of the noun, 'Detroit." And we might have put more emphasis initially on the noun because Eminem is a great ambassador and music is all about Detroit and Chrysler 'is' Detroit. And 'Detroit' brings a certain romance to the brand."Continue reading...

Super Bowl XLVII is getting closer, so more heavyweight brands are making the required heavyweight commitment to advertise during the Big Game on CBS on February 3.

The network said today that all of the available spots are sold out at around $4 million per 30 seconds, with the latest returning brands including Chrysler from last year and Taco Bell from three years ago.

Budweiser plans to debut Budweiser Black Crown, an amber lager with higher alcohol content, with a 30-second spot during the game. Anheuser-Busch InBev introduced Bud Light Platinum during last year's game, while Black Crown was developed via last year's Project 12 regional brewmaster challenge.

Taco Bell had a very good year with a snap-back in sales on the strength of new produccts such as Doritos Locos Tacos, and so the Yum!-owned brand has confirmed it's suiting up for the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010. The chain's 60-second spot will "support the brand’s 'LIVE MÁS' tagline and spirit."

Doritos, meanwhile, tapped actress Ali Landry, who rose to fame during her 2008 Super Bowl commercial debut with the brand, to announce the five finalists for its fan-voted "Crash the Super Bowl" creative commercial challenge.Continue reading...

For a series of Batman movies that takes itself so seriously, it's a surprise to see it right there so prominent as one of only five menu items on the official The Dark Knight Rises website: "Imported From Gotham City."

The Dark Knight Rises has a number of other official partners. There is Nokia (remember them?) and No Fear (remember them?) and Mountain Dew, which features at the core of its tie-in "Sad Batman." But none of these brands even get a mention on the film's official website, let alone being featured on the site navigation.

It seems that the heavyweight "Imported from Detroit" campaign, which debuted with Eminem at the 2011 Super Bowl and was reborn with Clint Eastwood at the 2012 Super Bowl, is now so ingrained in the American psyche that it's worth lampooning. But the first rule of auto product placement is "be serious." Be so, so serious.Continue reading...

Chrysler is still a brand that seems to be comfortable with a dark and brooding urban presence, as exemplified in its "Imported From Detroit" campaign. But increasingly, the city it's representing isn't just Detroit. And now it's Gotham City — as in the New York of fables in the Batman comic-book and movie series.

For the July 20th release of The Dark Knight Rises, the final piece of the Warner Bros. prequel trilogy, Chrysler has launched an "Imported from Gotham City" contest that allows fans to help create an original co-branded TV spot featuring Chrysler and Batman. 

The Dark Knight Rises Director/Producer/Writer Christopher Nolan will select the winning ad, which will debut on TV to help promote the release of the film, and welcome the winner to the red carpet at the movie's NYC premiere.Continue reading...

It's finally the "second half" for Chrysler, and this weekend the automaker is rolling out a quartet of new TV ads that pick up where its "Halftime in America" commercial with Clint Eastwood (above) left off during February's Super Bowl. Don't expect anything like the punch delivered by Eastwood's craggy rallying cry or the alleged political innuendo in the spot that ran at halftime of the Big Game, urging Americans not to give up on themselves, their economy or their nation. And, of course — buy a Chrysler.

The new fleet of commercials is somber in tone, reflecting that of the original "Halftime in America" spot. They stick with the notion of making a comeback. And each shows a line at the end of the spot that repeats one of the themes uttered by Eastwood in the Super Bowl ad. But there are no overt references to Detroit as in Chrysler's celebrated advertising of the last year or so, just a few glimpses of a gray and gritty metropolis that might be Detroit. They offer "hope and encouragement," as Chrysler CMO Olivier Francois blogged about them.

Yet the new spots—watch them below—do shed some fresh light on Chrysler's strategy for each of its U.S. brands, depicting the stories of four individuals, each of whom relates to Ram, Dodge, Chrysler or Jeep in particular tell-tale ways. Below, meet Chrysler's post-Eastwood brand ambassadors: Tommy, Shaun, Steven, and Jenny.Continue reading...

Apple plans to spend $45 billion of cash hoard on $10 billion stock buyback and share dividend yet may have to deal with rising brand dislike as it discusses today its plans for $100-billion cash horde.

Apple critic Mike Daisey changed his one-man show after admitting fabrications, while Foxconn declines to sue.

Boeing faces concerns about aging of 737.

Chevron executives can't leave Brazil.

Cumulus Media debuts radio program featuring Mike Huckabee to challenge Rush Limbaugh Program.

E! Network signs Clint Eastwood and family to reality TV series.

Facebook spends less on R&D than rivals.Continue reading...

M&M's "Just My Shell" reveal of Ms. Chocolate was the most popular Super Bowl 2012 commercial, as voted on by YouTube users in its thumbs up/thumbs down Ad Blitz contest. The new character reveal of the brand's "Chief Chocolate Officer" was no doubt helped by a post-game social campaign around the character.

Rounding out the top five, Chrysler's "Halftime in America" spot featuring Clint Eastwood was #2, Bud Light's "Rescue Dog" (aka "Here Weego") was #3, Chevy Silverado "2012" was #4 and the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl fan-created "Man's Best Friend" was #5.

Apple tightens up on apps again, frustrating developers.

Blip.tv gets fresh funding, drops .tv from brand name.

Chrysler CMO personally approached Clint Eastwood about Super Bowl ad just as he did Eminem a year ago.

Corona supports cancer research with promo.

Google nears launch of cloud-storage service.

Groupon reports net loss in first quarterly filing after IPO.

Honda aims to reclaim its luster.

Mattel launches new global campaign for Barbie.Continue reading...