I really liked this ad and the emotional pull it uses to tie the production of high quality cars to the survival of an American city. While it is surely in Chrysler’s interest to persuasively market their cars, doing so in a way which is honest about the importance of the auto industry for the success and recovery of Detroit is important. We don’t hear a lot of talk about the realities of the economic collapse: jobs lost, neighborhoods abandoned, factories moved. This ad brings them forward with a simple hope – that we can work our way out of a downturn, given the chance.

Americans have to want autoworkers and a city like Detroit to succeed. Whether you think economic recovery is going to require more government help or private business growth, this isn’t going to happen on its own. Good on Chrysler for stepping up and forcing the issue.

Marcy Wheeler has more analysis of the ad, though her conclusion is largely the same as mine: “But whatever the cynical calculations behind this ad, whatever the value of the Chrysler 200, someone needed to tell this story.”