Related Links

●  What Martin Luther King Actually Thought About Car Commercials

● John Fea collects tweets after the ad runs

A Dodge commercial aired during the Super Bowl using the voice of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. backfired Sunday, with viewers criticizing the spot on social media and questioning whether King’s family approved of the ad.

Dodge used an excerpt from King’s “Drum Major Instinct” sermon, which was originally delivered on Feb. 4, 1968 in Atlanta, Ga., in what was meant to be an inspirational commercial about the power of service, cooperation, and community.

Viewers were taken aback. It didn’t take long for social media users to inquire whether King’s family approved of the company appropriating the civil rights leader’s words as a marketing tool.