Ram is pleased with the all-new 1500, the fifth generation of the lineage started in 1981 by the D/W. After all, it’s the most advanced light-duty truck in the automaker’s history. To this effect, the FCA-owned brand took to the Super Bowl with not one, but two ads centered on the 1500.
The first features an excerpt from the “The Drum Major Instinct,” a speech delivered five decades ago. Ram took a lot of criticism for using Martin Luther King, Jr. to sell trucks, with Martin’s daughter Bernie King distancing herself from the ad despite the fact the MLK estate gave Ram the OK for it.
The main message is, “In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ram truck owners also believe in a life of serving others.” Which is somewhat debatable considering the Baptist minister and activist once said: “the evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” At a speech to Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1967, that is.
For the second ad, Ram took a more humoristic approach to making the all-new 1500 seem like the truck to buy. And it did it with the help of a band of Vikings hauling across the Icelandic tundra in the bed of the 1500, all while singing a fast-paced adaptation of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”
The Vikings then find themselves on the road to Minneapolis for the Big Game, with the catchline coming in the form of “ready for the unexpected.” All in all, the lightheartedness makes the ad more memorable and likable than the one with King, Jr.’s renowned speech.
Unveiled at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, the 2019 Ram 1500 goes mild hybrid for both the Pentastar V6 and HEMI V8. Up to 225 pounds lighter than the previous generation thanks to the efficient use of aluminum, the newcomer is also expected to gain a Hellcat-engined version in the near future.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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