Feb. 7, 2011
Sometimes you just need a reminder.
Who knew it could come from an unlikely pitchman named Marshall Mathers?
You're up to your wrist in spinach dip on your couch or somebody else's on Sunday, and as it is with most Super Bowl parties, the room gets quiet in between the football.
Amidst the dog chasing Doritos and the beer can shots to the groin, was two minutes of startling.
It wasn't so much a commercial as it was a film. About hope.
Will it sell cars? I don't know. But it's the talk of this town on the morning after, and many towns around the country. And that's usually the first step toward a successful ad campaign.
The whole theme of the day of these Super Bowls is always a celebration of patriotism. Although memo to the NFL: Apparently cue cards with the lyrics on them are something to consider for the next national anthem singer.
C'mon, Christina, seriously? If you're going to stretch one-syllable words into three-syllable words, at least know what the words are.
We want the day to be a celebration of who we are. Why we love football. Why we come together as families and with friends to watch the Big Game.
Detroit is who we are. Without apology. With occasional grimaces. With steely, elbow-greased resolve to return to a better day.
It's said to be the first two-minute commercial in Super Bowl history -- 120 consecutive seconds of honest. The gritty scenes of underbelly, smokestacks and buildings that are not what they once were.
"What does a town that's been to hell and back know about the finer things in life?
"More than most."
Joe Louis' fist never looked more imposing.
Admit it. You weren't sure where this thing was going and then all of a sudden, you heard the beat bleeding in and you smiled. "Lose Yourself" has become mainstream enough that you suddenly had a feeling.
And then it got better and better. To shots of the Spirit of Detroit and Woodward Avenue and the Fox Theatre with a marquee reminding us to "Keep Detroit Beautiful."
And then goose bumps. From a car commercial.
"This is the Motor City. And this is what we do."
In truth, it wasn't a car commercial at all. It was a statement. We may have been gone for a little while, but brace yourself, we're back. Not just that car company. Not just Detroit. But all of us. There is bounce back in all of us.
As it should be with most good things in life, it all starts with a little honesty. Delivered in this case by Eminem, who is living his own personal bounce-back story. We've never been prouder to claim him as one of our own.
If you've not yet seen the commercial, it's all over this Internet thing today. Watch it. Watch it again. It will help you dig in for the week ahead.
"That's who we are. That's our story."
Watch and vote on all of the Super Bowl commercials Watch and vote on all of the Super Bowl commercials here.
