Chrysler Taps Flashy Former Chairman as Advertising Guru

Washington DC July 7, 2005; The AIADA newsletter reported that Lee Iacocca will return to the spotlight in a series of Chrysler advertising spots in hopes of drumming up consumer interest in his former company’s Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models, reports The Detroit News.

The flamboyant former chairman retired from Chrysler in 1992 and has remained relatively estranged from the automaker. But beginning today, Iacocca will appear in a series of Chrysler TV commercials as part of a $75 million effort to tout the automaker’s new "Employee Pricing Plus" program that starts today and runs through Aug. 1 -- a response to GM’s successful employee discount program, which helped the struggling automaker raise sales by 47 percent last month. The News reminds us, “

It was Iacocca’s personal television appeals that helped rescue the automaker in the 1980s from the brink of bankruptcy.” In his new role, “the 80-year-old Iacocca will appear alongside former "Seinfeld" star Jason Alexander, who will revive the most memorable line from Iacocca’s popular commercials of the 1980s: "If you can find a better car, buy it."”

According to the News, “Chrysler executives approached Iacocca just last Friday and after reviewing and revising scripts over the weekend, Iacocca and Alexander shot the first commercial Tuesday in New York City. Additional commercials featuring Iacocca are scheduled to be made today, Chrysler said.”

The automaker’s promotion claims an average of 4 to 5 percent below dealer invoice on most 2005 Chrysler vehicles, in addition to rebates.