Due to the lackluster sales and brand awareness of its Fiat 500, Chrysler’s marketing team decided they needed a spokesperson that would help exhilarate the brand. The company debuted a commercial staring Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen during the NCAA tournament in mid March. A heck of a choice, right?
The new ad pokes fun at the recent trouble the actor has gotten himself into and features Sheen racing a Fiat 500 through his mansion while throwing a party under house arrest. When Sheen steps out of the automobile, his leg (complete with an ankle bracelet) comes into view, and Sheen is met by supermodel Catrinel Menghia.
Sheen remarks, “I love being under house arrest. What do I get for good behavior?” Chrysler ends the commercial with the brand’s tag line “Not all bad boys are created equal.”
Chrysler’s chief marketing officer, Olivier Francois, has mentioned that he believes the purpose of an ad campaign should be to sell “cars through a brand” instead of selling a brand through its cars. And despite the actual appearance of Fiat’s tiny vehicles, Chrysler has managed to depict the brand as sexy, edgy, and hip. Francois has also been the marketing mind behind Chrysler’s 2012 Super Bowl ”Halftime in America” ad which starred Clint Eastwood as well as Chrysler’s 2011 “Imported from Detroit” Super Bowl ad featuring Eminem.
Chrysler’s ad campaign has certainly created some buzz. The commercial currently boasts more than three million views on YouTube. However, many people are also criticizing Chrysler’s decision to use Sheen (whose personal demons and bad behavior have been made very public) as a spokesperson. In 2011, the actor was fired from the sitcom “Two and a Half Men” after a number of public meltdowns and antics that were possibly fueled by drugs and alcohol. The company admits there were some concerns with the ad campaign, and because of this, Chrysler tested the water by initially introducing the ad through YouTube. Some also argue that Chrysler is late to the “Charlie Sheen party” and that the star has lost his relevancy.
Do you think Chrysler is resurrecting its brand with its recent ad campaigns or sputtering closer to collapse?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjYxE2VD7VE
Resources:
http://autoblog.ca/reader/news/fiat-500-abarth-charlie-sheen-commercial
http://autofluence.com/media/videos/charlie-sheen-fiat-commercial-living-under-house-arrest/
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/money/auto_news/new-fiat-500-ad-features-bad-boy-charlie-sheen
http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/11297414-423/charlies-hot-wheels.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/chrysler-takes-charlie-sheen-ad-fiat-bigger-screen/story?id=15917796#.T38VsdUxP8g
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