A Clint Eastwood ad that cleverly mixes a corporate pitch with a celebration of American pride has become a rage. It was first shown on TV earlier this week during the Super Bowl. It has garnered over five million hits on YouTube in the last three days.
Eastwood walks down a gloomy tunnel in Dirty Harry style, and speaks of the economic distress in Detroit. “People are out of work and they’re hurting,” he says in that gravelly voice. He ends on a note of hope: “This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do, the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, it’s half-time in America, and our second half is about to begin.”
Pundits in the US are debating whether the ad is a plug for the Obama bailouts of American car companies in 2008. In our winter of corporate bailouts, will viewers of the new IPL season be treated to “It’s half-time in India”?