Dodge aired a commercial for its Ram truck series during Sunday’s Super Bowl featuring a portion of a sermon from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that has drawn a backlash on social media.
The ad begins by noting that King delivered the sermon — known as “The Drum Major Instinct” — on Feb. 4, 1968. In the same sermon, delivered the same year he was assassinated, King also advised people not to spend too much on cars.
According to Stanford University’s reprinting of his sermon, this particular sermon was an adaptation of the 1952 homily ‘‘Drum-Major Instincts’’ by J. Wallace Hamilton, who was a well-known, white liberal Methodist preacher at the time.
Here is the text from the sermon that was used as a voice-over in the commercial:
“If you want to be important — wonderful. If you want to be recognized — wonderful. If you want to be great — wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness. … By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great … by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great. … You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know [Einstein’s] theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”
His sermon, delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where he was a pastor, referenced the biblical passage Matthew 23:11-12, “The greatest among you will be your servant.”
The ad shows moments of struggle, such as a sweating man doing pushups, and moments of heroism, such as a firefighter carrying a boy outside a burning building. It also shows a Dodge Ram transporting a church.
What the Super Bowl ad doesn’t include is the part from King’s sermon where he warns against the dangers of spending too much when buying a car and not trying to keep up with the Joneses.
“Do you ever see people buy cars that they can’t even begin to buy in terms of their income? You’ve seen people riding around in Cadillacs and Chryslers who don’t earn enough to have a good T-Model Ford,” King said in his sermon. “But it feeds a repressed ego. You know, economists tell us that your automobile should not cost more than half of your annual income. So if you make an income of $5,000, your car shouldn’t cost more than about $2,500. That’s just good economics.”
King concluded that sermon by imagining his own funeral, saying he wanted to be remembered for doing good deeds, including serving others. This year will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of King, who was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968.
The King Center, which was founded as a memorial to King by his wife, Coretta Scott King, tweeted that the center and its chief executive, Bernice King, the youngest child of the Kings, does not approve of the use of his words in advertisements.
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
Eric D. Tidwell, the manager of the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, which handles the licensing King’s intellectual property, made the decision to allow King’s sermon to be used in the advertisement.
“When Ram approached the King Estate with the idea of featuring Dr. King’s voice in a new ‘Built To Serve’ commercial, we were pleasantly surprised at the existence of the Ram Nation volunteers and their efforts,” Tidwell said in a statement to the Post.
He said that the advertisement was reviewed to ensure it met “standard integrity clearances.”
“We found that the overall message of the ad embodied Dr. King’s philosophy that true greatness is achieved by serving others,” he said.
Several people on social media found the commercial distasteful.
Using MLK Jr. speeches to sell trucks during Black History Month?
— Britt Julious (@britticisms) February 5, 2018
Dodge for real just used an MLK Jr. speech to show a bunch of white people doing random stuff around trucks so 2018 is going well.
— Whitney McIntosh (@WhitneyM02) February 5, 2018
MLK drove a Ram truck?
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) February 5, 2018
Does the Martin Luther King Jr. Dodge come with the Rosa Parallel Parks assist feature? Because if not you can keep it.
— Travon Free (@Travon) February 5, 2018
"I have a truck." – Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
— Sigh Hersh (@Ugarles) February 5, 2018
Religion made another appearance in a separate Super Bowl commercial, in which Toyota used religious leaders to advertise trucks. A rabbi, a priest, an imam and a monk loaded into a truck to go to a football game with the tagline, “We’re all on one team.”
This story has been updated to include a statement from Eric D. Tidwell, the manager of the Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King.