Fiat Chrysler airs five music video ads during AMAs
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had some surprises in store Sunday night for viewers of the American Music Awards.
Chrysler Group LLC, which has become known for its unique advertising, partnered with Universal Music Group's Interscope Records to air four 30-second and one 60-second customized videos featuring new cars from the automaker and songs from some of the biggest names in music during commercial breaks of the three-hour broadcast on ABC.
The ads, which the company is calling "videos," featured new songs by Detroit's own Eminem ("Guts Over Fear"), Fergie ("L.A.Love (la la)"), Gwen Stefani ("Spark The Fire"), Imagine Dragons ("I Bet My Life") and Phillip Phillips ("Unpack Your Heart").
The mini music videos included footage from the artists' official music videos for their songs, including an early look at Eminem's "Guts Over Fear" music video from his new "Shady XV," the new two-disc set that commemorates the first 15 years of his record label, Shady Records, which is released Monday.
"It's incredibly rare and special to find a unique partnership where some of the world's biggest artists and brands align so perfectly, allowing both the opportunity to deliver entertaining and meaningful content to their audiences," said Chrysler Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois in a statement.
Each artist/song was partnered with a vehicle from one of the automaker's brands. Eminem, who did not appear in the video, was matched with the 707-horsepower 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat; Fergie was with the 2015 Chrysler 200; Stefani was matched with the 2015 Fiat 500L; Phillips was driving Ram's 1500 EcoDiesel; and Imagine Dragons was paired with Jeep and its iconic 2015 Wrangler Rubicon.
The Jeep-Imagine Dragons video also promoted the Tyler Robinson Foundation, a charity that battles the unforeseen costs of childhood cancer. The spot encouraged viewers to find out more at www.TRF.org.
Fergie performed her new hit song "L.A. Love (la la)" on stage with a 1965 Chrysler 300 low-rider that was tricked out with custom hydraulics and paint created by Dennis McCarthy, one of Hollywood's most noted film car gurus.
The one-minute video featured Stefani, who did not have a standalone video, and portions of the Fergie and Phillips videos. It was meant as a salute from Interscope Records to Fiat Chrysler, with "Interscope Records salutes Fiat Chrysler Automobiles" appearing on the screen.
"We've had an incredible relationship with Olivier and Chrysler Group over the years," said Steve Berman, Interscope Geffen A&M vice chairman, in a statement. "Being able to partner with them on five diverse artists and create the kind of impact we saw last night around a platform like the AMAs is what we live for at Interscope."
The history between Chrysler and Interscope goes back to the automaker's critically-acclaimed 2011 "Born on Fire" Super Bowl ad that featured Eminem and introduced the brand's "Imported from Detroit" tagline.
Following the ad, numerous other partnerships have flourished, including a collaboration with Dr. Dre's Beats audio in some cars and vehicles being featured in music videos, including a Chrysler 300C John Varvatos Limited Edition in 50 Cent's "My Life" featuring Eminem and Adam Levine.
Fiat Chrysler did not disclose the cost of airing the videos.
mwayland@detroitnews.com
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