Two Perspectives on Economic Recovery: GE & Chrysler

By A-J Aronstein - February 6, 2012 | Tickers: GE | 0 Comments

• Email
• Print

Two commercials from last night's Super Bowl stand out among the gaggle of ads featuring B-list celebrities and CGI polar bears. They're important for both their political overtones and for the way they go about constructing narratives about current economic conditions. General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Chrysler Group (owned by Fiat ?(NASDAQOTH: FIATY.PK)present two very different ways of talking about a potential recovery, and give us insights into the way that politicians will be talking about the economy in the coming months.

Chrysler and Eastwood

I'm not the only one confused at the contradictions and vapid imagery in the Chrysler ad.

In what is ostensibly a continuation of last year's "Imported from Detroit" series, the company's 2-minute halftime spot featured the almost disturbingly gravelly-voiced Clint Eastwood walking around in a shadowy alley. As several outlets have already observed, it seems very strange that Eastwood was tapped for the message, given that he told the Los Angeles Times in 2010, "We shouldn’t be bailing out the banks and car companies. If a CEO can’t figure out how to make his company profitable, then he shouldn’t be the CEO.”

Chrysler, of course, received $4 billion from the government.

But it's not just the stuff outside the frame that seemed off. The ad's vaguely patriotic music and collage of imagery makes for strange, almost baroquely somber viewing. "It's halftime in America too," Eastwood says from the shadows (decidedly not Reagan's "morning in America"--and the difference is important, especially when coming from the rightward-leaning Eastwood). "People are out of work and they're hurting." Confusingly, he delivers this pronouncement over images of a couple waking up in what looks like a swanky Manhattan apartment and a man putting on a tie--ostensibly getting dressed for work (though maybe it's an interview). 

"We're all scared because this isn't a game," he adds.

Compare this with the message, tone, and imagery of last year's commercial. As a friend who grew up in Detroit pointed out to me while Eastwood was still on-screen, use of WPA murals, the Fox Theater, and the Joe Louis statue made the 2011 spot seem firmly rooted in Detroit. In this year's effort, Detroit is relegated to a familiar position--provider of poverty images. We get the image of an abandoned building, a few anonymous industrial skylines, and a decrepit residential street. It's hardly the celebration of a new dawn of American industry. It paints an uncertain picture about recovery.

But most importantly, it resorts to abstract, metaphorical language that taps into vague ideas about the "fate" of America. "All that matters now is what's ahead--how do we come from behind, how do we come together, and how do we win?" The uncertainty of this message seems striking, especially for a company whose stunning turnaround led to $183 million in 2011 revenues and the announcement of revenue sharing for the first time since 2005.

It all led me to question the ad's central premise--that it's truly "halftime" in America.

GE is for (Employment) Wonks

GE's spot "Louisville" seems positively sunny by comparison, telling a specific story about job creation. It's one of several ads in a series focusing on the individuals who make products for General Electric. The company was very close (in 2008-09) to closing "Appliance Park," which takes center stage in the ad. As the New York Times points out today: GE's ad "touched on a serious subject, industrial policy, by saluting the workers who make G.E. appliances and turbines in Kentucky and New York. The point could have been underlined by mentioning that G.E. changed its mind about plans, announced in 2008, to spin off or sell the appliance business."

The reversal saved jobs in Louisville, but also fits into a narrative about manufacturing that seems in-line with the president's State of the Union plan to build the economy. "We're on the forefront of revitalizing manufacturing," says one GE worker. Another suggests that GE offers "A chance to get in on the ground floor of something big of something that will bring us back. Not only this company, but this country."

GE saw double-digit profit increases in 2011, though growth was lower in its appliances unit. Regardless, the ad seemed like a ringing endorsement of the President's plan--and a fresh injection of optimism into news about the economy. It's hard to imagine that GE's growth will be led by its appliances (or healthcare) units, but the tenor of the advertisement--and its focus on the individuals benefiting from jobs in manufacturing--sounded much different than Chrysler's.

Proxy Ads?

The difference in rhetoric is clear here: America is either at an uncertain crossroads, or on the way to an economic recovery driven by manufacturing. Though the issues are obviously more complicated than that, look for the tone of these ads to map onto the tone of political ads for red team and blue team candidates (respectively) as we head toward November.?

A-J Aronstein teaches writing at the University of Chicago. He's on Twitter at @tastyspoonful

• Email
• Print
• Feedback