Remember that Super Bowl commercial? You know the one I’m talking about. The one that was hyped for a week beforehand; the one no one could stop talking about for days after it aired. The Eminem and Chrysler commercial, of course.
Well, the “Imported from Detroit” effort is in the news again.
I thought it was a good campaign then, and I think it’ll be a good campaign now. I live in the city, and very often have to defend it from people who assume that once you cross south of Eight Mile Road, it’s nothing but gun fights and house fires. Detroit is more than that — it’s museums, and a river front, and parks, and organic bakeries, and communities. It sounds cliche, but it’s true. And, obviously, Chrysler is trying to capitalize on that. (Although, the irony doesn’t go unnoticed that Chrysler’s headquarters are about an hour north of Detroit.)
The latest effort is a gospel choir version of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” which goes on sale at iTunes today; the proceeds will be split among three nonprofit groups. It’s not as blatant as the Super Bowl commercial; Eminem’s not in it, and Chrysler’s presence is much less obvious that the first commercial, in which Eminem was driving a new Chrysler car for much of it.
I don’t think this music video is going to be the be-all end-all for improving the city. But what it can do is what the video did — raise awareness and get people thinking about what they can do, themselves, to improve their own neighborhood.
What do you think? Will you be buying the song? Do you think it makes a difference?
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