Chrysler's enormous aerial Dodge banner crashes back to Earth

The only thing more wickedly entertaining than watching big ad stunts fail is watching them fail while dropping from a helicopter. The latter situation befell (pun intended) Chrysler last Friday at the Texas State Fair, when the pilot in charge of hauling a 53,000-square-foot Dodge Ram banner pulled the emergency release and sent it crashing to the ground. Chrysler's intent was twofold: It wanted to break a world record held by the UAE's 50,000-square-foot flag banner, and also break GM's marketing stranglehold on the fair. If this were The Price Is Right, they'd be playing the Sad Horn right now. The best part, though, is that the FAA canceled Chrysler's second attempt to fly the banner, so they couldn't even redeem themselves. Not that anyone will really care—buying a car is full of so many weird intangibles, and one banner mishap isn't going to hurt anything. But it does play into the larger narrative of the company's haplessness. It also means GM shouldn't lose any sleep over its pole position at the Texas State Fair. Via Jalopnik.

George Washington rolls over the English in Dodge commercial

As Brits get touchy about the U.S. media's treatment of their beloved BP and talk of the "special relationship" goes out the window, the U.S. and Great Britain are positively spoiling for a fight. Chrysler is tapping into this sentiment by dredging up lingering resentment over the Revolutionary War. In this ad celebrating the 2010 Dodge Challenger, George Washington gets behind the wheel and kicks some limey ass. In a nice bit of programming, the spot will premiere during the U.S.-England soccer match on Saturday. As the ad states, America got two things right: cars and freedom. It remains to be see whether they've improved at soccer.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

Dodge wants you to man up and grow that nasty beard already

Chrysler's Dodge brand clearly wants to own the "manly" positioning for the car category. It's Super Bowl ad was a paean to masculinity under fire in a world where men are routinely asked to watch vampire shows with their wives, not to mention walk the dog. Now, the brand is taking things a step further with a beard-growing contest. "Be the master of your own face!" a Dodge press release announcing the program challenges. The contest, taking place on the not-all-that-butch Facebook, will reward one man who grows the most impressive "Super Beard" with a weekend for two at a Dodge Motorsports race of his choice. Guys have six weeks to grow their beards. The guy who gets the most votes on Facebook wins. Dodge's timing is good, too, since it dovetails with the Bearduary.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman