Chrysler sponsors Terminator: Salvation, we see hope, irony
If a company is going to stay in business, there's no question that it must continue to market itself. Yet Chrysler's choice to pay to do so via this summer's Terminator: Salvation is a head-scratcher. Some folks have made an issue -- a valid one -- of public funds being used to secure the sponsorship. Regardless of who's paying, we don't get this at all.
Chrysler's director of media, Susan Thomson, said "We have a following with the Terminator movies and we are going to continue with that." We have no idea what following she's speaking of, unless she means the ancient Dodge police car or equally ancient Jeep from the first film, neither of which made us think, "Chrysler rocks!" A modern, beat-up Wrangler makes a cameo in the latest trailer, but again, it doesn't leave us jonesing for a Jeep.
When all anyone wants from Chrysler is good looking, ably performing cars, we don't know what kind of mojo they expect to garner by showing up in the post-apocalypse. However, we also don't know what Chrysler's sponsorship entails. It could merely be a "Brought to you by" tag. Or maybe Chrysler just likes the word "Salvation." Or there could be a shiny red-eyed Terminator sub-frame hauling ass in a 2009 Dodge Ram with lasers and miniguns. Now that would rock. Hat tip to RDS
[Source: Reuters via World Car Fans]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Torrent 6:09PM (1/24/2009)
The Ram is the only Chrysler vehicle that could survive the Apocalypse.
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rypt 6:53PM (1/24/2009)
The older TJ/YJ Wrangers are OKish
Zeus.:God 4:21AM (1/25/2009)
Ok-ish? Are you crazy?
Rams, Cherokee's, Wranglers, Gladiators... They would all survive, no problem. ;)
firstplace 6:11PM (1/24/2009)
the nissan ram??
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Jrejre 6:12PM (1/24/2009)
She may have mis-spoken with the word "movie". Chrysler has had tie-ins with the show "sarah connor chronicles" where they play Dodge Ram ads and have had the new dodge ram in many of the episodes.
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Khalid 10:07PM (1/24/2009)
Yeah, the ram looked bad ass in that series.
iPopeye 6:14PM (1/24/2009)
HA, THE END OF THE WORLD REALLY IS NEAR!!!
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adelossa 6:17PM (1/24/2009)
GM has the Transformers Movie; Ford has Knight Rider. It was only appropriate that Chrysler had something they can sponsor/advertise cars in.
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Tourian 6:28PM (1/24/2009)
Wasn't it a Toyota Tundra in the last/third movie that was in the main chase scene? And I think it was a Lexus SC430 that the T-X drove for a while.
The 2nd movie was mainly a Harley, an old Oldsmobile station wagon, and then the S-10 pickup and that big Freightliner wrecker.
The 1st movie I think they had a Dodge pickup, and of course the semis and Harley.
Wait, I forgot what my point was. I think Terminator is cool because the randomness of the vehicles, they just carjack GTA style whatever is handy, crappy or otherwise. To suddenly have only nice looking (or even beat up) Chargers and Challengers and gasp, Vipers in a post apocalyptic world would be too obvious and forced and I think would be a distraction if you're trying to enjoy being immersed in "the world" of a movie while watching it.
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jeff 8:20PM (1/24/2009)
the second movie it was a Ford wagon, not a dodge. T2 was full of crown vics, between the cop cars and that station wagon.
The chrysler product placement in the TV series is obnoxious. How do these people keep getting their hands on brand new cars? They've had the dodge ram a lot, jeep wrangler unlimited, and one of those new ugly Jeep SUVs.
This new movie takes place in the future though, companies try so hard to convince people that their products will still be around in the future.
Milos 6:34PM (1/24/2009)
"the end begins"
maybe they are telling us something?
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Abe 6:39PM (1/24/2009)
Chrysler: Please use the taxpayers money to improve your products and not on such useless promotional stunts that will not help your image in the eyes of the general public. The only way for the public to become weary of your products is through revamping your entire lineup and showing the world that you can once again design and build highly desirable and competitive products.
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Sean 6:56PM (1/24/2009)
So... is advertising not allowed?
P.V. 8:01PM (1/24/2009)
@Abe:
"Chrysler: Please use the taxpayers money to improve your products and not on such useless promotional stunts that will not help your image in the eyes of the general public. The only way for the public to become weary of your products is through revamping your entire lineup and showing the world that you can once again design and build highly desirable and competitive products."
"weary"? Don't you mean "enamored"?
@Sean:
Advertising is OK, as long as it is not the sole product of one's money (especially when one has a woefully bad lineup which needs the money more (for revamping)).
Rends 7:01PM (1/24/2009)
Just another Chrysler bashing so called news.
Stay more neutral when writing news.
It would make Autoblog more serios.
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sebring96hbg 7:13PM (1/24/2009)
This is called m-a-r-k-e-t-i-n-g.
The constant Chrysler bashing is a turn off.
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Jake B 7:18PM (1/24/2009)
Why is this such a bad thing? SOMEBODY has to oppose our future robot overlords or we shall surely perish.
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Level 7:47PM (1/24/2009)
This movie was made last year how can it be marketing sponsorship paid out of the bail out. further it was in production last summer long before even the financial bail out. I think its irrelevant....
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P.V. 7:59PM (1/24/2009)
Wow. That is truly ironic.
I don't think this is bashing so much as recognition of the sad state of affairs Chrysler LLC is in now. Nardelli himself said that Chrysler couldn't survive even with the bailout money. Also, given that Autoblog and other car magazines/sites have reviewed recent Chrysler/Dodge vehicles and have come to the conclusion (from generally objective starts) that Chryslers/Dodges are crap due to their woeful build quality and (sometimes) anemic, (usually) relatively gas-guzzling engines (currently), I'm not sure how one can praise a Chrysler/Dodge on the whole in the face of superior competitors (not just foreign but also domestic).
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Farmboy 8:09PM (1/24/2009)
Chrysler loves an oxymoron as well as irony. Just like the fact that they are in the Big 3. The only thing big about them are their horrible engines and the size of their lineup. I still have a bit of a liking for Chrysler's models a bit.
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