Detroit I Can Hear You Calling My Name, Or At Least I Can See You In An Ad Campaign

Dear Internet,

So this is old news, but I’m going with it anyway. CNN Money came up with this idea to have some of Detroit’s ad agencies (mind you, some of these are the biggest MadMen agencies worldwide) to design campaigns to entice people to come and invest in Motor City’s future. Called Selling Detroit, this contest convinced the creative minds of McCann Erickson, GlobalHue, Doner, Campbell-Ewald, and Leo Burnett to get to their storyboarding (separately of course) and come up with a way to, well, sell Detroit to potential investors.

Now the idea is all well and good, aside from the fact that this isn’t really any kind of real incentive. I appreciate the creative drive nonetheless; or at least the realization that marketing and advertising are important on some level, even if it is just for awareness. But whatever. The point is that the five agencies came up with things that no one, let alone investors, will really relate to.

Let’s talk about Detroit for a minute. Detroit is a Midwestern US city that has been plagued by financial misfortune, job loss, cold weather and darkness. But it also has a rich history and birthed some of the greatest rock and roll – hence, Kiss’ Detroit Rock City – and some exciting nicknames (Thank you, Wikipedia):

• Arsenal of Democracy
• The D
• D-Town
• Hockeytown
• Rock City
• The 3-1-3

The home of Motown, Ford, GM, and MC5, Detroit is the only true American city. You can argue for New York, Chicago, LA, Hotlanta, and Baltimore all you want, but I’m not buying. Detroit was built on the concept of American Capitalism and then fell apart as a result of it. Per Jack White,

“Three motors moved us forward,
Leaving smaller engines to wither,
the aluminum, and torpedo,
Monuments to unclaimed dreaming.
Foundry’s piston tempest captured,
Forward pushing workers raptured,
Frescoed families strife fractured,
Encased by factory’s glass ceiling.”

And therefore, these agencies need to appeal to something more universally American: freedom.

The best of the five ads – some of which make almost no sense to your average American – is one with Kid Rock (#5, Leo Burnett). And F Kid Rock. He’s crap, and if you like him, so are you. The concept is high and appeals to what Detroit could do – creativity, talent, fame – and offers some hope to someone reading the ad:

“If you’re looking for a place to make the most of your artistic talent, start your career in Detroit. Art can’t help itself from happening here.”

But Kid Rock? Are you f-ing kidding me? Maybe if you went wild and conjured the spirit of Detroit – Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Iggy Pop, Eminem, The White Stripes (I could continue on into eternity) – and how some of these people changed the face of music, not to mention American culture, then maybe we can talk. My personal opinion is that anyone who likes Kid Rock is not the type of person willing to go to the frontier, start a business, give people jobs, and help to build Detroit’s new economy.

In the coming days, I'm going to make a real campaign. Without that douchebag Kid Rock. But here's one for a sample:




Keeping it real,
Shelly