Marchionne defends Chrysler ad; says Eastwood donating his take to charity

[Bozita]

Chrysler's Super Bowl ad starring Clint Eastwood returns to YouTube
12:55 PM, February 6, 2012
By Brent Snavely and B.J. Hammerstein
Detroit Free Press Business Writer


-snip-

Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said today that Eastwood is donating the money he would have made for appearing in the commercial to charity.

“So this was not done for financial reasons,” Marchionne said today in an interview with Paul. W. Smith on WJR-AM 760. “There was not a single doubt in my mind that when he spoke on the commercial he was expressing his views.”

Since it aired during halftime of Sunday’s Super Bowl many have said that the commercial carries political overtones, with some joking that Eastwood appears to be running for president.

“Powerful spot. Did Clint shoot that, or just narrate it?” tweeted David Axelrod, a former senior advisor to President Barack Obama.

Today, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said the commercial was not intended to evoke a political message.

“It has zero political content,” Marchionne said in the radio interview. “The message is sufficiently universal and neutral that it should be appealing to everybody in this country and I sincerely hope that it doesn’t get utilized as political fodder in a debate.”

-snip-

more...
http://www.freep.com/article/20120206/BUSINESS0103/120206019/Chrysler-Super-Bowl-ad-copyright-violation?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[murielm99]

1. Keep it up!

The more publicity it gets, the better. People will look it up on YouTube. The talking heads will speak about it on the news.

Everyone wants to see Detroit and our American industries come back. The repubbies will look bad for saying anything about this.

No one can touch Eastwood anyway. I don't care what his politics are. He is an American icon.

[FSogol]

2. Then Sergio Marchionne said, "Wink, wink," and added, "Obama 2012."

[zbdent]

3. I wonder how many Chrysler workers, still on the job due to the loans,

will be voting for "Not Obama" in November ...

[Spazito]

4. Who would have believed that

a positive ad about the auto industry has the repubs in an uproar. It certainly shows how far around the bend they have gone and is truly bizarre, imo.

[seabeyond]

5. i think he meant it from the heart. it was positive. we could use positive

now and again.

[Bluerthanblue]

7. I agree-

we could use a lot more positive.

[Lionessa]

6. Giving the earnings to charity is not a zero sum gain for Eastwood.

Just saying. I never saw the SuperBowl or the ad, I used to think the world of Eastwood because he looked like my dad, but seemed so much nicer on screen, I sort of used to pretend I should've been his when I was young.

Anyway, the point is that every time Eastwood gives to charity, it lowers his taxes. So it isn't like he's really going to get nothing at all out of this. I haven't had income in a few years, so perhaps things have changed, but as I recall charitable contributions are 100% deductible from taxable income.

[CJCRANE]

8. He can't win...

what do you suggest he does with the money?

[Lionessa]

9. Neither win nor loss, just a fact. I think I've indicated no untoward feelings

about him. Just a bit of a fact at a time when the rich not paying appropriate taxes is an issue.

[monmouth]

10. Perhaps he will donate the earnings to Planned Parenthood. n/t

[zipplewrath]

11. Careful about the math

I'm not his accountant, so I don't know how he was "paid".

But if he was paid $10K and he donates every single dime to charity and "writes it all off", what that does is reduce his taxible income by $10K. It doesn't reduce his TAXES by $10K. If he is in the 25% tax bracket, it saves him $2500 in taxes he would otherwise pay for earning the $10k. So he "gives up" $10K to avoid $2500 in taxes. Roughly speaking, he's "out" $7500.

Now, his taxes are probably way more complicated than that, and quite easily he could have "donated" his time to his own charity, and the payment was made DIRECTLY to his own charity (or some other). There are more ways to do this than one can keep track of. But in the end, it doesn't "cost" him anything to make the donation, but he doesn't really "make" anything either.

[Bozita]

12. Yes!