http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/02/07/020712-news-super-bowl-eastwood-1-4

THE GOOD, THE AD AND THE UGLY

Eastwood joins 'apolitical' Chrysler boss in defending Super Bowl spot as GOP charges bias

By Luke Jerod Kummer and Erik Hayden Tuesday, February 7, 2012

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WASHINGTON — Chrysler’s chief executive is insisting his company’s Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood has “zero political content,” even though members of the advertising team that created the spot have ties to President Obama.

Democrats, including the White House, cheered “Halftime in America” and its upbeat message in which Eastwood offers the auto industry comeback as proof of America’s resilience. Many Republicans, though, panned it, calling it payback for the government bailout Chrysler received in 2008. And Eastwood confirmed CEO Sergio Marchionne’s contention that the ad was not an endorsement of any candidate.

“We are as apolitical as you can make us,” Marchionne said in a radio interview in Detroit yesterday. “I wasn’t expressing a view and certainly nobody inside Chrysler was attempting to influence decisions.”

Eastwood echoed Marchionne’s comments.

“I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama,” Eastwood told Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor.” “It was meant to be a message ... just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it.”

Still, the advertising agency that created the commercial — Wieden + Kennedy — has members who have designed Obama campaign items or who have worked on behalf of Democratic causes.

The creative minds behind the ad are in the agency’s Portland, Ore., branch. Aaron Allen designed a poster for the 2008 Obama campaign and Jimm Lasser designed a basketball sneaker called the “Obama Force One,” with an image of the president on the soles and the message “A Black Man Runs and a Nation Is Behind Him.” Lasser displayed the shoe in a 2008 gallery exhibition with the tagline “The Dunk on McCain.”

Elsewhere at Wieden + Kennedy, which has Kraft and Coca-Cola on its client list, global public relations director Joani Wardwell worked in the press office of the Clinton White House. She started as a grassroots organizer for Democratic causes in the early 1990s and continues to do political consulting.

“I’ve managed to always keep my toe dipped in the water that way,” she said in 2009.

The Wieden + Kennedy spot set itself apart in two ways: its length — two minutes, compared with the standard 30 seconds — and its powerful message.

“Detroit’s showing us it can be done,” Eastwood tells the audience. “And, what’s true about them is true about all of us ... This country can’t be knocked out with one punch.”

American carmakers have seen better times since receiving taxpayer funds. Collectively, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford sold slightly more than 6 million vehicles last year, a 15 percent increase over 2010. However, taxpayers will never recover about $20 billion of the $80 billion spent on the bailout, according to a recent government report.