Bob Dylan Believes in Detroit in Super Bowl Commercial

Bob Dylan Super Bowl Commercial
Chrysler has corralled some big names for its commercials advocating for beleaguered Detroit, Michigan. After Eminem and Clint Eastwood in past ads, this year’s Chrysler Super Bowl commercial featured the somewhat elusive Bob Dylan, who asks, “Is there anything more American than America?” Check it out.

If you are wondering about the music playing in the background of the commercial, it is Dylan’s “Things Have Changed,” even though an underlying theme of the commercial might be that things have not changed. The song first appeared in the movie Wonder Boys (2000), which starred Michael Douglas.

Dylan is not new to commercials, and the Chrysler television ad was not even Dylan’s only appearance on a Super Bowl commercial this year. His song “I Want You” played in the background of a Chobani yogurt commercial.

What did you think of this year’s Super Bowl commercials? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Bob Dylan Live at Royal Albert Hall, 28 November 2013
  • One Degree of Separation Between Bob Dylan & Twilight Zone: Bonnie Beecher & “Come Wander With Me”
  • Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)
  • Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Cover of Bob Dylan’s “Brownsville Girl”
  • Vampire Weekend Saluting a Font By Covering Bob Dylan’s “Jokerman”
  • Clarence Ashley: “The Cuckoo” & “Little Sadie”
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Author: chimesfreedom

    Editor-in-chief, New York.

    2 thoughts on “Bob Dylan Believes in Detroit in Super Bowl Commercial”

    1. “Things have changed”, indeed.

      The only thing that would have made that ad understandable would have been Dylan pulling out a S&W .38 and blowing his own brains all over the ceiling of that poolroom at the end of it.
      Brutal.
      You say he doesn’t need the money but that must not be true.
      Did they show previews of this commercial to the Broncos before the game? If so, that explains everything.

      He’s not the first great artist who became a parody of himself by the time he died & he won’t be the last, especially in these United States. This most capitalist of all countries destroys all its heroes, either by murder or cold, hard cash.

      IWPCHI

      1. It certainly is a surprise that Chrysler was able to persuade Eminem, Eastwood, and Dylan for these ads. While part of the appeal might be the unusual nature of the ads in the way they boost a struggling city, I’m sure that the fact that Chrysler has a lot of money helps. Still, I’m not quite so upset to see Dylan doing the ad, partly because the guy does not surprise me so much with his odd choices, which are always at least . . . interesting (as in “I wonder what he was thinking?”). Thanks for the comment.

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