An American Halftime

As a relatively avid football-goer, I sat down with the rest of the nation on Sunday night to watch the Superbowl game between the Giants and the Patriots. Like every year, I chose which team I wanted to win about five minutes before the game started — essentially during the national anthem. I spent the game rooting for my new favorite team, booing cajolingly at my friends/opponents, and laughing throughout the halftime show.

However, my favorite part of the Superbowl — more so than the football, and even more than the delicious food — is the commercials.

And one of my favorite Superbowl commercials of all time appeared during halftime at this past one: the Clint Eastwood / Detroit Chrysler commercial.

In class on Thursday, we discussed the Eminem / Detroit Chrysler commercial from last year's Superbowl.

This year's commercial differed in several ways from last year's. Rather than a focus on the city of Detroit, we witnessed a slow sweeping view of the people of Detroit. The father, knotting his tie, looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. A young girl, staring out the car window. Still photos of struggling Americans, of families just like us — feeling the same things we are feeling, experiencing these times just like the entirety of the nation.

Meanwhile, throughout the commercial, we not only hear Clint Eastwood's voice monologuing on the rough times American is seeing — we also see him walking down the football hallway, leading from the field to the locker rooms. He makes a strong connection between halftime of the Superbowl and halftime for America, saying, "It's halftime, America, and our second half's about to begin."

The makers of this Chrysler commercial drew on perhaps everything they could possibly have drawn on in order to most effectively boost this commercial's rhetoric.

We have the ethos of Clint Eastwood, an incredibly skilled and accomplished actor and director. We also have the ethos of Detroit, a city that's been to hell and back, and is still fighting strong.

We have the pathos of the American dream and the current American life, the pathos that we all feel when we see jobs being cut, or witness the overruling of bills that need to be passed. The pathos that we all feel as college students, nervous about seeking a job after we graduate — or as parents, worrying about the success of our endeavors — or as business owners or factory workers, anxious about the future of our corporations. We all share a common American feeling right now.

We have the logos of the commercial itself — the background music, the slow-motion shadow-lit figure of Clint Eastwood, the grittiness of his voice and the intensity of his words.

And perhaps most importantly, we have kairos. There could not be a more perfect time to air this commercial, what with our ever-changing laws and politics, the climate of our politicians' campaigns, and the upcoming presidential vote. Now is the most opportune time to remind Americans to fight for our country — to get right back up when we get knocked down. Sometimes, we need reminded that though we all may have opposing beliefs, societies, and families, we are all one, together. Thanks, Chrysler, for the reminder.


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Question for you: what was your favorite Superbowl commercial this year?