Clint Eastwood's Commercial To Save Detroit Was Filmed in Los Angeles and New Orleans

My guess is it was too dangerous to film in Detroit:

One of the most popular Super Bowl advertisements last night was the Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood, titled “Halftime in America.”

The spot is supposed to be encouraging, as it focuses on the resilience of Detroit. “It’s halftime. Both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half,” Eastwood says in the spot. “It’s halftime in America, too. People are out of work and they’re hurting. And they’re all wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback. And we’re all scared, because this isn’t a game. The people of Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together, now Motor City is fighting again.”

But contrary to what the might ad suggest, the spot was actually filmed in New Orleans and Los Angeles. “Yes, part of it was filmed in New Orleans . . . and some was filmed in various parts—such as Los Angeles,” Dianna Gutierrez said. She specifically points to the tunnel scenes as being taken at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, while the stadium shots were in New Orleans.

I'll bet if you look closer you'll find that it wasn't economically feasible to film in Detroit. They probably have significant fees and restrictions for filming in what's left of that city (I was there in 2009 and part of it look like Berlin after the war), and it wasn't worth it.

As Mark Steyn pointed out filling in for Rush this morning this commercial was made to benefit an American car company that's 58.5% owned by Fiat (an Italian company) and that manufactures its vehicles in the Province of Ontario, Canada.

It may be halftime in America, but Chrysler is less than half American.