Built to #Swerve: Is Ram’s Super Bowl Controversy Working in Their Favour?
Talk is cheap. Or is it?
Right now, content marketing is centred around three things: impressions, engagements, and conversions. Impressions and conversions are inherently positive for business, should they occur, while engagements can go either way. Social media engagements are metrics which encompass the public shares, likes and comments for an online business’ social media efforts. Engagements can come in the form of positive feedback, such as likes, positive comments, and shares. On the other side of the coin, however, negative engagements can undoubtedly result in business losses. If an ad is controversial and receives mixed reviews in the public forum, these negative engagements can sometimes overshadow record-breaking impressions.
But, is there something to be said for advertising that crosses moral boundaries yet still gets people talking?
When Dodge’s Ram Trucks debuted their “Built to Serve” commercial during last Sunday’s Super Bowl, it’s clear that they wanted to spark some kind of conversation.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the statistics that have emerged about this commercial so far:
- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (owners of Dodge/Ram Trucks) spent approximately USD$5,000,000 to air the 60-second spot.
- By Monday morning, FCA’s stock dropped, despite having aired four other ads during Super Bowl LIII.
- Four days after the commercial aired, it had 2.3M+ views on YouTube.
Beyond these stats, there have been countless tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media engagements involving the commercial. Admittedly, tt would be difficult to sit through and not feel anything. What that feeling is, though, is highly dependent on you as an individual. The response to this ad has been an overwhelming “How dare they?”. However, while many were disgraced at the ignorance behind the use of MLK’s sermon in a truck ad, some applauded Ram for using people of colour and symbolizing support for the military.
So, five million dollars later, did Dodge get their money’s worth?
This is almost impossible to say without being able to dissect any hard numbers. It’s also difficult to determine if the ad was successful being only four days past its air date. However, what is evident is that this generated conversation. Lots of it. In 2018, what more do advertisers want? If a commercial airs on television and no one posts outraged responses on social media, did it even happen? Laura Entis, a reporter for Entrepreneur put it well:
“The best commercials get people talking. For a company pouring money into a high-profile, expensive campaign (not to mention dropping millions for seconds of Super Bowl airtime), the worst case scenario is producing an ad so tame it immediately disappears off the public’s radar.”
However, it’s still possible for advertisers to overstep moral boundaries and genuinely offend enough of its consumer base, effectively hindering their success rather than helping it. In terms of this commercial, however, my theory is that Ram positioned this ad to do the following:
- Win over a large percentage of its consumer base through symbolizing military values.
- Go “viral” through the stimulation of social currency, emotions, and storytelling.
While I don’t believe that Ram necessarily anticipated the amount of media backlash that their “Built to Serve” commercial has received, it would be naive to think that they didn’t want it to spark conversation. Today, as we know, conversation can quickly translate into virality. We’ve definitely seen this tactic fall flat before, though. Take the Apple’s 1985 Super Bowl ad titled “Lemmings”, which was so shocking and uninspiring to audiences at the time that it got Steve Jobs fired.
On the other side of the spectrum are ads like Carl’s Jr.’s “All Natural Burger” commercial featuring model Charlotte Kinney. This ad, while deemed incredibly sexist, resulted in an influx of sales and brand awareness for Carl’s Jr.
Clearly, there’s a method to the madness when it comes to advertising in the digital age. Ram’s “Built to Serve” campaign may not have hit home for everyone, but it sure got us talking.
