{"id":123131,"date":"2018-02-05T09:41:41","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=123131"},"modified":"2018-02-05T09:41:41","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T14:41:41","slug":"ram-panned-mlk-super-bowl-spot-sounds-sour-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2018\/02\/ram-panned-mlk-super-bowl-spot-sounds-sour-note\/","title":{"rendered":"Ram Panned: MLK Super Bowl Spot Sounds Sour Note"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting muddied up: Ram's 60-second commercial was hit for its use of a Rev. King speech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trying to select the winners among the ad fest also known as Super Bowl is, at best, an inexact science, but one thing virtually every Monday morning commercial quarterback seems to agree on is the spectacular fail of the spot by Fiat Chrysler\u2019s Ram division.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that the truck brand didn\u2019t follow FCA\u2019s formula proven out over much of the past decade, a longer-form spot pairing dramatic words and images aimed at building to a higher calling than crass commercialism. Since the Italian-American automaker\u2019s first spot, featuring rapper Eminem twinning the themes of Detroit\u2019s and Chrysler\u2019s comeback, its ads have frequently been the Super Bowl\u2019s most eagerly awaited and subsequently talked-about commercials.<\/p>\n

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Insight!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ram ad on Super Bowl LII is also generating a lot of buzz, but most of it is not what the truck brand\u2019s marketing team aimed for. In both social and mainstream media , the decision to use a 50-year-old speech by the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. drew comments like \u201ctasteless\u201d and \u201ccheesy,\u201d one Facebook user suggesting it inadvertently \u201cmock(ed) every FCA manifesto ad that came before it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become a sport of its own to measure the response to Super Bowl ads. And no surprise, considering some less-than-diehard viewers really couldn\u2019t care less about what happens on the field. As one Sunday comic strip suggested over the weekend, many folks wind up watching the commercials and going to the bathroom or grabbing snacks in the kitchen during the game.<\/p>\n

(Ram 1500 panned in study of market’s “Green” and “Mean” vehicles. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Many manners of measurement are tried by different organizations hoping to see which spot struck the most resonant chord: from asking panels of viewers to dial or type in a number reflecting their responses to hooking up lie detector-style physical monitoring devices. Those who focus on tracking reactions to automotive ads monitor such things as the frequency in which carmakers see their products viewed online after a commercial runs.<\/p>\n

USA Today, which was one of the first to follow the Super Bowl ad metrics, had good news for Toyota, which was unusually active in game LII, running three brand ads. That included one spot that, for the first time, didn\u2019t feature any of the Japanese automaker\u2019s vehicles. Rated fifth best spot overall by the newspaper, it focused on a Paralympian with no legs below the knee and only one complete arm. The commercial focused on both Toyota\u2019s sponsorship of the Olympics and Paralympics, and the company\u2019s focus on mobility services and technologies.<\/p>\n

The heartstring-tugging ad was hailed by viewers in a number of other studies, including Thrillist, which ranked it fourth of the 41 spots it tracked during the game. But the online service put the Ram ad dead last.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The spot aimed to show how Ram trucks are used in the service of country and community.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As it did in many prior long-form commercials, the truck brand aimed to deliver a higher message that also helped sell product. Parent FCA invented the format and has relied on some well-known voices over the years, whether those speaking, like Eminem and actor Clint Eastwood, or those whose words anchor the spots, such as newscaster Paul Harvey and, this year, Rev. King.<\/p>\n

One of two for Ram \u2013 and five for FCA overall \u2013 it was titled \u201cBuilt to Serve\u201d and, explained the automaker, \u201csupports a core belief of the Ram Truck Brand, and Ram truck owners, that true greatness is achieved by helping others.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, it paired a speech given by the civil rights leader exactly 50 years to the day before in which he declared \u201c\u201ceverybody can be great because everybody can serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what came across to many observers, both professional and consumer, was seen as little more than a crass way to try to sell the new 2019 Ram 1500 pickup.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThey pushed it over the edge,\u201d Kelly O\u2019Keefe, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University\u2019s Brandcenter, told the Associated Press. \u201cYou wanted to root for it because the cause is good, but it just didn\u2019t end up fitting the brand, so you ended up feeling a little bit manipulated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twitter and Facebook posts were all but universally negative, with posters using words like \u201cunsettling,\u201d and \u201ctone deaf.\u201d<\/p>\n

For its part, Ram quickly went on the defensive, explaining that the company \u201cworked 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\u201d in the commercial produced by new Chicago boutique ad agency Highdive.<\/p>\n

(Lexus goes the superhero route with Super Bowl spot for new film, “Black Panther.” <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> to check it out.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ram got a better reception to a humorous spot built around Vikings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybe so, but not everyone within the extended network of King family individuals and organizations was pleased. The King Center, founded by the late leader\u2019s wife Coretta Scott King, issued a tweet asserting that it was not involved in \u201cthe use of MLK\u2019s words or imagery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone was critical. Some saw an effort, as BigShirley tweeted, \u201cto show respect to black ppl, military and sell their product. Maybe it wasn\u2019t perfect to you but I\u2019m not offended that they tried.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a complete washout for FCA. The automaker scored better with a second Ram 1500 ad featuring Vikings, as well as one of its commercials for the all-new 2018 Jeep Wrangler. But the uproar over the King-Ram spot dominated the evening.<\/p>\n

(Audi had its own spectacular fail with a 2017 ad suggesting men should choose a bride like they do a used car. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FCA has crafted some of the most memorable Super Bowl ads of the past decade, but it is getting slammed for a spot in yesterday’s game that used a classic Martin Luther King speech to introduce the new Ram 1500 pickup. TheDetroitBureau.com delves into the controversy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5],"tags":[],"make":[46,51,69,75,98,111],"post-state":[],"category_old":[174,150,123,228,191,253,258,124,217,206],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123131"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=123131"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=123131"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=123131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}