Chrysler marketing chief denies Super Bowl ad was political

Read More at : Detroit Free Press

Chrysler Chief Marketing Officer Olivier François insisted that the “Halftime in America” Super Bowl ad was designed to send any kind of political message or as a statement of support for President Barack Obama’s re-election.

“There were absolutely no political intentions,” François said in Chicago Wednesday. “The politicians can see political messages wherever they want, but we are not politicians.”

Those were François’ first public comments about the ad since Sunday.

In the two-minute commercial, Eastwood talks about the challenges still facing America as both the country and Chrysler work to fully recover from the recession of 2008 and 2009.

“It’s all about uniting,” François said. “There is nothing more neutral and nothing more universal.”

In a separate issue, he said he and fellow Chrysler executives don’t know why the company’s Super Bowl commercial was taken down for hours from Chrysler’s YouTube channel, but he’s trying to solve the mystery.

“We are investigating,” François said. “It’s a strange thing.”

From late Sunday night until about noon Monday, the commercial could not be viewed on Chrysler’s YouTube channel. At the time, a message appeared on the video that said the commercial was removed because of a copyright issue with NFL Properties.

The NFL has said it did not file a copyright claim, and YouTube has declined to say who did.

François and Saad Chehab, head of the Chrysler and Lancia brands, say they are somewhat mystified by the politically charged debate about the commercial.

“If being proud of America is political thing, then so be it,” Chehab said.