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Iacocca teams with Snoop Dogg
Reports: Chrysler, aiming for younger car buyers, teams retired chairman with rapper in new ad.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Lee Iacocca's newest spot for Chrysler includes rap star Snoop Dogg, as the auto maker tries to reach out to a younger group of buyers.
Iacocca, who frequently appeared in Chrysler commercials during his tenure as chairman from 1979 to 1992, returned to pitch the company's cars in July, hyping its offer to sell vehicles at the employee-discount price to the general public.
The latest spot, which numerous media reports say should start Saturday, includes Iacocca and Snoop Dogg, whose hip-hop speaking manner in the spot seems to confuse Iacocca.
"You know, I'm not too sure what you just said. Now everybody gets a great deal," Iacocca says in the spot.
"Fo shizzle, I-ka-zizzle," Snoop Dog replies.
Iacocca is donating the money Chrysler is paying him to do these spots to a foundation he set up to battle diabetes, the disease which killed his wife. USA Today reports that Snoop Dogg told Iacocca during the filming that he has a brother with diabetes, and said he admired what Iacocca is doing.
"He's just a good kid," Iacocca told USA Today about his co-star. "I didn't understand half the things he was telling me, but it was fun."
The spot ends with Snoop Dog giving his own version of Iacocca's famous pitchline, "If you can find a better car, buy it."
"If the ride is more fly, then you must buy," Snoop Dog says.
Advertising Age last month found that more than 80 percent of people who had seen the commercials featuring Iacocca in July found the 80-year-old retiree to be "believable" and "relevant." But the survey also found that he was far less recognizable among young adults. Chrysler believes that Snoop Dogg may help solve that shortcoming.
"It's a great way to continue to break through the clutter," Chrysler spokeswoman Suraya DaSante told the New York Times. "Snoop is a hip-hop icon, a lot of people know him and recognize him, so it's a fun complement to Lee."
The Times reports that Snoop Dogg is a car buff and a fan of Chrysler products who left a voice mail at Chrysler's West Coast office in 2004 demanding the new Chrysler 300 sedan. The 300C he later received is black with tinted windows.
Iacocca's first round of commercials in July included one with Jason Alexander, who appeared as George Costanza in the television show "Seinfeld."
