DAN ORZECHOWSKI
News Editor
Apparently MLK’s dream was to own a Dodge Ram.
After the company spent upward of $5 million for a 30-second time slot in the country’s highest rated event on television, more than 100 million people heard the words of one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s sermons, “The Drum Major Instinct.”
We heard King’s voiceover give an alternate definition to greatness when he said “recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.” The excerpt of the speech used in the ad went on by telling listeners that anyone can step up and help others.
Why is this a big deal? Well, the ad lasted 30 seconds. MLK’s sermon lasted for just under 39 minutes, and in that time, a whole lot more was said.
About a third of the way into the sermon, King warned his listeners about the “drum major instinct,” which according to him, compels people to “live their lives trying to outdo the Joneses.”
In the very next paragraph, King called out people who’ve been consumed by materialism by saying, “You’ve seen people riding around in Cadillacs and Chryslers who don’t earn enough to have a good T-Model Ford.”
Somehow, Dodge thought they were discrete enough to get away with using passages from a speech that denounces capitalism to get people to buy their trucks. Of all people to exploit, they chose a civil rights activist.
The ad comes after a rocky year for the NFL. Several teams throughout the season had players kneeling during the national anthem before every game to spread awareness of police brutality and systemic injustice, a demonstration that led to an explosion of controversy.
Regardless of your views on the kneeling movement, this advertisement was completely uncalled for.
Can’t we look past the commercialism? What does a Dodge Ram have anything to do with MLK?
Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said the decision to air the ad was a poor one. But he also went on to say that the ad was “well-intentioned.”
Mr. Calkins, the only intention Ram had was to sell trucks.
So here’s my call to action: look past the bullshit.
Things that have nothing to do with trucks, yet happened to be in the ad:
Studying
Working out
Playing football
Fishing
Teaching math
Jumping into a helicopter
Getting a haircut
Having a baby
Playing more football
Petting horses