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Critics slam Ram Super Bowl ad using MLK's sermon. This is why.

Like MLK, Ram claims its trucks are 'built to serve.' Presuming you have $30,000 for a new one.
A still from a Ram Trucks Super Bowl ad featuring the voice of Martin Luther King Jr.

When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon imploring hearers to imitate the servanthood of Jesus, he probably didn't envision them buying Ram trucks to do so.

And yet there was King's voice Sunday night, booming through millions of TV speakers during Ram's latest Super Bowl ad:

"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."

VOTE: SHOULD MLK'S SPEECHES BE USED IN COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING?

The speech, delivered 50 years ago on Feb. 4, 1968, served to inspire a Ram Trucks ad of American workers wiping brows, fishing and riding horses, doing pushups and, of course, driving ram Trucks.

After King's speech culminates, the ad's tagline appears: Built to serve.

The use of King's sermon to sell trucks did not sit well with many viewers, who voiced reactions ranging from uneasiness to repulsion.

Not everyone seemed to oppose the ad, however:

As reporter Kate Aronoff noted, King himself discourages listeners from overspending for automobiles in the very same sermon Ram sampled. A new Ram 1500 can cost about $27,000.

The King Center distanced themselves from the controversy, tweeted The King Center who tweeted that they are not the entity that approves the use of MLK's words or imagery for commercials.

The King Estate is run by King's son, Dexter. Fiat Chrysler said in a statement that it worked closely with the King Estate on the ad.

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