Buying ad time during the Super Bowl is one of the most expensive things a company can do. So, when you’re doing it, it would be smart for a company to ensure they won’t piss off the millions of people who are watching, anxiously, right? Some companies, however, enjoy an opportunity to “push the envelope.” This year, Dodge decided to run a commercial using a predominant name in American history to make a vital point.
Instead, the ad backfired and people online were outraged to see that a company would use Martin Luther King Jr. to sell cars. The speech used was delivered on February 4, 1968 (just two months before his assassination). Clearly, the speech was hand selected to air during the Super Bowl, on February 4, 2018–exactly 50 years later.
People on Twitter were outraged after seeing the ad air on TV and expressed their distaste for the commercial on Twitter.