Awkward: MLK, Jr’s Daughter & Foundation Denounce Dodge Super Bowl Ad

Dodge has caused an uproar with their Super Bowl ad this year featuring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and it’s only going to get worse for them now that the slain civil right leader’s daughter and official foundation have both publicly denounced the ad.

The one minute spot includes clips of a speech King gave on February 4, 1968, exactly fifty years ago today, about the value of serving each other, our families, and our communities. The ad ends with the slogan “BUILT TO SERVE,” and the Dodge Ram logo.

It’s a beautiful, powerful speech — as so many of his words were — but the juxtaposition of a call to service with a commercial trying to sell Dodge Ram trucks struck many as tacky, if not outright horrifying.

Reaction on social media was swift and almost universally negative.

Scrolling through the replies to the tweet @RamTrucks posted with their ad, I found zero positive responses.

Worse for Dodge, both Bernice King, King’s daughter, and The King Center, the foundation founded by King’s widow Coretta Scott King, both publicly denounced the ad and made it clear they had not approved the use of King’s image and voice.

It is not entirely clear how Dodge obtained rights to the speech. The King estate has been notoriously protective about the use of his image and speeches. As this Washington Post article noted last year, the King Center has defended the copyright of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech and the website includes instructions t0 contact their licensor to “obtain proper authorization for use of Dr. King’s works and intellectual property.”

Even if Dodge did obtain the proper legal licensing for the clips of King’s speech, not taking the extra step to get the approval of the family seems unwise. This backlash was not surprising, and the comments from King’s daughter and foundation are only going to add fuel to the fire.

So far, it does not appear that Dodge has responded to the controversy on any of their Twitter accounts (I checked @Dodge, @DodgeCares, @RamTrucks, and @RamCares).

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker. 

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