ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And I'm Melissa Block.
Detroit is about as far away from Las Vegas as you can get. But when it comes to the big auto show, Motor City embraces its inner glitz. The show is famous for grandiose product unveilings; there were 50 this year. And the over-the-top prize goes to Chrysler for staging a cattle drive in downtown Detroit. Here's NPR's Anthony Brooks.
ANTHONY BROOKS: The North American International Auto Show is an American cultural phenomenon. The show is a reflection of this country's love affair with the automobile and its addiction to kitsch.
Unidentified Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, please be aware that today's press conference incorporates strobe lights and pyrotechnic effects.
BROOKS: This was one of yesterday's so-called reveals when car companies reveal their new models. In this case, it's Ford's newly redesigned F-150 pickup truck.
In an arena filled to capacity, mostly with the press, the truck emerges from the back of the stage through a cloud of blue smoke and flickering strobe lights. And who better to sell truck than country and western singer Toby Keith? Dressed in blue jeans, cowboy hat and boots, he reads from a teleprompter and talks with Ford executives about the truck.
Mr. TOBY KEITH (Country Musician): It's roomy, the interior is really slick, but it's still great for a big guy like me.
Unidentified Man: Now, let's talk about trailer towing. One of the truck's…
BROOKS: Just in case trailer towing doesn't keep the reporters on the edge of their seats, more strobe lights and smoke and down from the ceiling comes Ford's new small, fuel-efficient concept car, the Verve. This event embodies the dichotomy of this year's show. On the one hand, Detroit's commitment to green, and on the other its continued reliance on big trucks. But many here say this reveal is a disappointment.
Mr. RAY WERT (Editor in Chief, Jalopnik.com): There has been a lot of buildup to their events as of late. But the delivery?
BROOKS: Not so great, according to Ray Wert. He's editor in chief of Jalopnik.com, a Web site obsessed with car culture.
Mr. WERT: It was slightly underwhelming because there wasn't an attempt at grandiose. There wasn't an attempt at something amazing and different. It was just, here's the truck - oh, and look, there's Toby Keith.
BROOKS: Tough crowd. But this week's most anticipated reveal was for Chrysler's new Dodge Ram pickup. Two brand-new trucks joined a dozen cowboys herding 120 head of longhorn Texas steer through downtown Detroit. It was a great idea, but in the end, it was just a group of big cows lumbering down the street. Then, when Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press tried to talk about the new truck, some of the steers began to mount each other.
Mr. JIM PRESS (Vice chairman, Chrysler): Well, let's not watch that. This is one show you're not going to forget. Okay, look at the truck.
(Soundbite of laughter)
BROOKS: Auto companies spend millions of dollars on these events, even when the industry is struggling. But with some 5,000 journalists here and thousands more picking the images up around the world on the Internet, they're a chance for automakers to push their brand.
Micheline Maynard, who covers the auto industry for The New York Times, says Chrysler is known for these spectacles.
Ms. MICHELINE MAYNARD (Detroit Bureau Chief, The New York Times): It's dropped minivans out of the ceiling. It's crashed Jeeps into and out of Cobo Center. So I guess if you're going to make a point about how tough your truck is, why not round up 120 Texas longhorns and run them down the avenue in front of the convention center?
Mr. WERT: It was funny to watch. I don't necessarily know what it did to sell the trucks.
BROOKS: That's Ray Wert again of Jalopnik.com. His favorite reveal was two years ago, when Chrysler introduced its Aspen SUV.
Mr. WERT: They had a virtual snowstorm that blinded the audience in white to the point you couldn't even see the vehicle in front of you. But everyone remembered it because they were picking pieces of the paper that they used as the faux snow out of their hair and clothes for the next month and a half.
BROOKS: Wert says it's not clear if the fake blizzard helped sell cars either, but he says it definitely made an impression. And that is apparently the point.
Anthony Brooks, NPR News, Detroit.