Why Did The NFL Make YouTube Pull Down Chrysler's Clint Eastwood Super Bowl Ad?

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Of last night's commercials, Chrysler's Clint Eastwood ad was undoubtably one of the best. So why did the NFL claim copyright on the video and force YouTube to pull it down this morning? UPDATE!

The YouTube version of the ad was uploaded to Chrysler's account right around when the spot first aired last night and was racking up serious views. Then, this morning, the video was pulled due to a "copyright claim by NFL Properties LLC."

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Since the ad contained no video of any NFL games (you can still see the spot here) the reasoning is unclear. Contacted this morning, an equally confused Chrysler rep said they were trying to get to the bottom of it and had uploaded it elsewhere.

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But that won't help Chrysler in one place — the USA Today Ad Meter — which was forced to pull the ad off its tracker because the video had been pulled down off YouTube. Being at the top of that reader-driven poll (Chrysler was in the top five) can sometimes mean millions more in ad impressions — now all those are lost.

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Good job, NFL.

UPDATE (10:39 AM EST): General Motors' Marketing Chief Joel Ewanick had this to say about the ad in a conversation with Jalopnik readers moments ago:

No, nothing to do with it. We didn't call the NFL. In fact, we're just surprised it even happened. In fact, riding the wave of positive Detroit stories is a good thing — we like it.

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Additionally, Chrysler just sent out an email imploring everyone to link to a new version of the video they uploaded.

UPDATE 2 (11:18 AM EST):

The video is back up but Chrysler still doesn't know why it was pulled.

UPDATE 3 (5:11 PM EST): Google, YouTube's parent company, reached Jalopnik and gave us this statement:

YouTube expeditiously removes content when it receives a copyright notification from copyright owners, or from third party agencies operating on their behalf. We reinstate content when we receive a retraction from the party who originally submitted the notification. The video has been reinstated.

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Google, so far, hasn't told us who asked them to pull the ad.