'Halftime in America' back on YouTube

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A spokesman from the National Football League denied the organization had asked Google to remove from YouTube an "Imported from Detroit" ad from Chrysler.

During the 2011 Super Bowl, Chrysler made a stir by unveiling an advertisement that ended with the phrase, "Imported from Detroit." The ad focused on the company's determination to make a comeback.

This year, the company's new ad featured Clint Eastwood, his thin silhouette and his gravely voice intoning how the economy was on the way back, saying it was essentially at "halftime" but ready to come roaring back.

The ad was called "Halftime in America."

Not long after it was available on YouTube, it was pulled, replaced by a message from YouTube that said, "This video no longer available due to a copyright claim by NFL Properties LLC."

However, "The NFL did not file a copyright complaint about this ad with Google," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Detroit Free Press.

YouTube did not comment directly on the advertisement, but said in generic fashion, "YouTube expeditiously removes content when it receives a copyright notification. We reinstate content if we receive a retraction from the party who originally submitted the notification."

McCarthy said Google was investigating why the video was made unavailable.

Chrysler and Fiat Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said that Eastwood had directed the payment he would have received for the ad to go to charity.

Marchionne said that gesture gave the advertisement credibility.

"So this was not done for financial reasons. There was not a single doubt in my mind that when he spoke on the commercial he was expressing his views," Marchionne said.