Chrysler cattle drive

TerryMason · #1 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008, 11:11 AM

It looks like Chrysler opened up the big Detroit auto show by driving 120 cattle through the city in order to promote their new Dodge Ram. At first I thought this was a pretty stupid idea, but I've now herd

about it on 3 different radio shows. NPR even got the president of Chrysler on the phone to talk about it.

I guess this just proves that I'm no good at marketing.

Quote:

DETROIT - Rounding up a share of ranching puns, Chrysler used its revamped Dodge Ram to drive a herd of 120 cattle through the city's streets Sunday in a show of the truck's rugged, workhorse appeal.As observers munched on hunks of Dodge-brand beef jerky, Chrysler LLC Vice Chairman and President Jim Press talked up the automaker's latest addition to the hyper-competitive U.S. pickup truck market.

"If you think that our truck is all hat and no cattle, keep an eye on yonder horizon," Press said.

The trucks drove the herd down barricaded city streets with a group of riders on horseback keeping them in check. But as Press detailed changes to the Ram, such as coil springs designed for a better ride, the cattle kept stealing the show.

"The bulls want to see the trucks, they don't want to leave," Press said as some of the longhorns appeared to mount the other cattle.
"Oh, look at that," he added. And finally, as the display continued: "Well, let's not watch that."

Before the cattle drive, which came on the first day of media previews at the North American International Auto Show, men in cowboy hats and ranch work clothes loaded bales of hay into a mud-spattered Ram and hammered together fences.

Chrysler is known for its attention-grabbing stunts at the Detroit auto show. In the past, the company has crashed a Jeep through the glass front of the Cobo convention center and unleashed a simulated indoor snowstorm to unveil the Aspen sport utility vehicle.