Detroit: What Do Twenty-Something Californians Think?

I had a chance to talk with 14 college students in California about Detroit and the Chrysler Super Bowl commercial. We even watched it together. (By the way, it was sunny and 70 outside; not exactly conducive for conjuring the Motor City in February.)

Eleven of the students were from the Golden State, along with one each from Washington, Illinois and Colorado. Only one person had ever been to Michigan. All were in their early twenties. Eight drove foreign cars; six drove American. They were kind enough to participate in a very unscientific survey.

Before watching the commercial, I asked them to write down any thoughts they had about Detroit:

Eminem and 8-Mile.

It's the airport my friends at UM use to get to Ann Arbor.

Literally, I don't think of anything.

A kid I went to middle school was from there.

Motown.

I know it's cold and they make cars, but I don't know much else.

Foggy, dirty, cold, car industry.

Dirty, homeless people, diverse, factories, industrial.

Most dangerous city in the U.S.

Ghetto.

Crime, dirty — never been though.

Did watching the commercial change your opinion of the city?

Makes me realize there is much more there than bad rumors — more history and culture.

It makes it look modern, clean and classy.

No, I've been to Detroit. I liked what I saw. I loved the colorful atmosphere and, to be honest, it confirms a lot of stereotypical Detroit images.

Not really. It seems to depict a hard-working city with a history. Hard and harsh.

Verifies it as a city, but paints a "tougher" image than I imagined.

I don't think it taught me enough about Detroit to judge it.

I never had an opinion but now I think it's a "tough" area.

The Chrysler Super Bowl Ad: When the Commercial Becomes the Political

Hank Steuver of The Washington Post is not that impressed by the Chrysler Super Bowl commerical:

I puzzled over Chrysler's daring yet laughably pretentious ad about a Detroit rebirth, in which Eminem drives meaningfully though the Motor City. Tagline: "Imported from Detroit." It was a bold statement, delivered unconvincingly.

And like seemingly everything else in America, the ad has taken on political implications. Stephanie Condon of Political Hotsheet writes:

One Republican congressman, encapsulating the negative response of many conservatives, pointedly put the ad in the context of the taxpayer bailout Chrysler received.

"'Imported from Detroit'...'borrowed from China,'" Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) tweeted last night.

Detroit's own Democratic congressman, meanwhile, and other liberals praised the ad as a fine representation of the hope that lives on in the downtrodden city.

"I can't think of a more fitting way to depict Detroit's story than to have fellow Detroit native, Eminem, announce that the city is back and to remind Americans that the revitalized Southeast Michigan auto industry is brimming with new investment and optimism," Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) told the Hotsheet. "This year marks a serious upturn for the city of Detroit."

Commercials That Matter

Flint Expatriate Ian C. Friedman, author of Words Mattered, weighs in on the Chrysler Super Bowl commercial:

It acknowledged the fact that Detroit and the entire region has suffered economically, and with that suffering has come real damage to the self-image and spirits of its people. But it also offered inspiring words (“it’s the hottest fires that make the hardest steel”) that, placed in the context of an overall recovery in auto sales and the American economy, suggested the possibility–or inevitability–of a comeback.