Dilly Dilly: Trying to Not to Punch the TV during the Super Bowl Commercials
Okay, so where am I?
I’m digesting the numbers from the Super Bowl and it looks like over 100 million people watched the big game again. I’m pretty happy because the taking the Philadelphia Eagles and plus six points was the steal of the year (uhhhhhm, hypothetically, because I would never gamble, of course). I have the DVR on fast forward trying to look at the commercials again and making sure I hear that Ram Trucks commercial properly.
I mean, was that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stumping for the truckmaker? Was the good doctors speech about about the value of service really being used as a voiceover to sell trucks? Really? Remember when MLK said “I have a dream that one day a recording of a speech I gave about redefining greatness as a function of your readiness to serve your fellow man will be licensed by my descendants for Ram to use in an offensive truck commercial.”
Wait? Whaaaaat? He didn’t?
In a season marked by President Trump battling the National Football League over kneeling during the national anthem, you would think that using MLK to sell trucks is the the wrong mistake. And given everything that is going on in the country right now centering on race, it seems that there too much emotion to go there. In previous years, this high-risk move might have worked. Today? Not so much.
Needless to say, Twitter was set on fire with criticism of the ad…here’s a handful of sarcasm from the Net:
I think we all agree that MLK’s message was, “Buy more cars”— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) February 5, 2018
Now that Martin Luther King is endorsing a pickup truck from beoynd the grave i think we can all declare racism offically dead— PFTCommenter (@PFTCommenter) February 5, 2018
Not sure MLK’s dream was to drive a Dodge Ram.— ItsTheReal (@itsthereal) February 5, 2018
A little checking discovered that Ram Trucks did not release this spot ahead of time like many of the other companies who spent $5 million for thirty seconds of air time. They were clearly looking for the surprise element, but now they potentially have a big problem with people being irked, the King Center for one:
Neither @TheKingCenter nor @BerniceKing is the entity that approves the use of #MLK’s words or imagery for use in merchandise, entertainment (movies, music, artwork, etc) or advertisement, including tonight’s @Dodge #SuperBowl commercial.— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) February 5, 2018
“We need to show everyone that it’s not just for your colleagues in accounting anymore!”
“How about we put a dictionary-definition millennial in front of a yellow brick wall and she can hold a can of Diet Coke Twisted Mango, dance awkwardly, and mumble to herself?”
“We can let the music play for 30 seconds over her inane mumbling and $5 million well spent! Right?!”
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