'Chrysler: Imported From Detroit' Featuring Eminem

Definitely my favorite spot of the Superbowl. Gritty and tough...

Chrysler Just Pissed Me Off

Chrysler got $4 billion in emergency aid from the U.S. government and has said it will seek another $3 billion in government loans. And yesterday it agreed to form an alliance with Italy’s Fiat as it looks for the road out of the woods. (The Fiat deal fine print reportedly makes it conditional on Chrysler’s getting that extra U.S. loan).

Now, Chrysler plans to help underwrite the fourth installment of the “Terminator” movie series, “Terminator Salvation,” where it will place its vehicles in cameo roles. The film is scheduled for release later this year. Financial terms of the sponsorship deal were not disclosed.

“This spring, Terminator 4 comes out and we will be one of the sponsors,” Chrysler director of media Susan Thomson said in a presentation at the Automotive News World Congress. “We have a following with the Terminator movies and we are going to continue with that.”

So, Chrysler= timeless battle between humans and machines? Is the goal here to convince consumers that a Chrysler minivan will help you and your family escape evil drones from putting the human race in the books under extinction?

I'm sorry; I'm in advertising and I think it must continue in order for our economy to stabilize and reinvigorate consumer confidence. But is this really the best way? How about advertising deals that bring savings to beleaguered Americans looking for an opportunity to save money on what could be a realistic necessity? I believe in continued spending and non- slashed marketing budgets. Especially for the automakers who are the spine of our economy, but this seems a brash spending play when a more strategic long term plan could do wonders.

Smaller Advertisers Causing The Ad Market To Drop

Joe Mandese wrote an interesting piece for Media Post today, highlighting a new study that has shown smaller advertisers, normally spendng in the long tail, are the ones who have put the brakes on spending recently.

"If you go back one or two years, when we were seeing modest growth of 2% or 3% in ad spending, the grow was coming from the bottom of the market. Those smaller, long-tail advertisers were in the forefront of the advance. Now they are leading the retreat," explains Jon Swallen, senior vice president-research and the de facto chief economist at TNS Media Intelligence.

Mandese also provides some interesting insights into the spending habits of the big three automakers, which makes you raise an eye to the current bailout happenings.

While some big advertisers have also hit the breaks, especially two of the Big 3 domestic auto marketers - Chrysler and Ford, both down 33% year-to-date - one has actually been boosting its advertising budget in defiance of an economic downturn: General Motors.

Through the first nine months of 2008, GM boosted its advertising budget nearly 16%, more than any other top 10 marketer, a move that could raise some interesting questions on both Main Street and Capital Hill as the Big 3 automakers have called on Congress fro a multibillion bailout to stay in business.

Here's a look at the modest cutbacks that have been made by some of the biggest advertisers: