Ram Trucks ad during Super Bowl using Martin Luther King Jr. audio sparks social media scorn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlbY1tGARUA
A Ram Trucks Super Bowl commercial that featured audio from one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last speeches sparked instant controversy Sunday night on social media, with some criticizing the ad for poor taste for using the late civil rights leader's words for a commercial purpose.
The ad, called "Built to Serve," interspersed modern scenes of working Americans – and Ram trucks in action – with background audio from a soaring speech that King gave on Feb. 4, 1968 the dealt with notions of personal greatness. King was assassinated two months after giving the speech.
"Everybody can be great," King said. "You only need a heart full of grace; soul generated by love."
Some social media users, especially people of color, took offense to the 60-second ad and faulted Fiat Chrysler's Ram division for using King's speech to sell vehicles.
An FCA U.S. spokesperson said the ad was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the speech about the value of service.
"We worked closely with the representatives of the Martin Luther King Jr. estate to receive the necessary approvals and estate representatives were a very important part of the creative process every step of the way," the spokesperson said.
Despite its detractors, the Ram Truck commercial and its emotional appeal drew praise from some.
One Twitter user pointed out that the Ram commercial did not include a section from the same King speech that warned against unchecked consumerism, particularly the urge to outspend one's neighbors in real estate or vehicles.
"But so often, haven't you seen people making five thousand dollars a year and driving a car that costs six thousand? And they wonder why their ends never meet," King said, according to an online transcript of the speech. "I want to move to the point of saying that if this instinct is not harnessed, it becomes a very dangerous, pernicious instinct."
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2018/02/04/ram-trucks-super-bowl-mlk/305692002/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlbY1tGARUA
A Ram Trucks Super Bowl commercial that featured audio from one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s last speeches sparked instant controversy Sunday night on social media, with some criticizing the ad for poor taste for using the late civil rights leader's words for a commercial purpose.
The ad, called "Built to Serve," interspersed modern scenes of working Americans – and Ram trucks in action – with background audio from a soaring speech that King gave on Feb. 4, 1968 the dealt with notions of personal greatness. King was assassinated two months after giving the speech.
"Everybody can be great," King said. "You only need a heart full of grace; soul generated by love."
Some social media users, especially people of color, took offense to the 60-second ad and faulted Fiat Chrysler's Ram division for using King's speech to sell vehicles.
An FCA U.S. spokesperson said the ad was meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the speech about the value of service.
"We worked closely with the representatives of the Martin Luther King Jr. estate to receive the necessary approvals and estate representatives were a very important part of the creative process every step of the way," the spokesperson said.
Despite its detractors, the Ram Truck commercial and its emotional appeal drew praise from some.
One Twitter user pointed out that the Ram commercial did not include a section from the same King speech that warned against unchecked consumerism, particularly the urge to outspend one's neighbors in real estate or vehicles.
"But so often, haven't you seen people making five thousand dollars a year and driving a car that costs six thousand? And they wonder why their ends never meet," King said, according to an online transcript of the speech. "I want to move to the point of saying that if this instinct is not harnessed, it becomes a very dangerous, pernicious instinct."
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2018/02/04/ram-trucks-super-bowl-mlk/305692002/