Dodge Chrysler was the latest corporate bigwig to defame Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by using sections from one of his speeches in a commercial during the Superbowl to sell Dodge cars. This was a gross rip-off and distortion and profiteering off of King’s name and message. The King family publicly denounced Dodge for the unauthorized use of King’s words and likeness in its shameless effort to profiteer and commercialize King civil rights struggles and popularity.
Hutchinson Report Publisher Earl Ofari Hutchinson and other civil rights leaders held a press conference in which they demanded that Chrysler Dodge CEO Sergio Marchionne cease and desist the use of the King commercial and Publicly apologize for its use to the King family.
Here’s a snippet from the chapter “Cashing in on King” my forthcoming book on Dr. King Fifty Years Later Why the Murder of Dr. King Still Hurts that casts the ugly glare on how America’s biggest corporations such as Dodge Chrysler have shamelessly profiteered off of King
C H A P T E R 6 Cashing in on King
“Mover 500 styles” the GAP clothing retailer MLK Event Huge Savings! Up to 50% off on
tweeted and emailed this ad to thousands of customers a few days before the start of the King Holiday in January 2014. The Gap was hardly the first retailer to cash in on the King Holiday.
In fact, this will give an idea just how much of a cash cow the biggest of the big retailers see the King Holiday.
Macy’s MLK Day Sale
Dates: TBA
Though Macy’s hasn’t announced the details of its MLK Day sale, expect it to follow a similar structure to previous Macy’s holiday sales: 20 percent off sitewide with free shipping on qualifying orders. Further details are expected to be announced over the weekend.
51 Bloomingdale’s MLK Day Sale
The King name by the fourth decade after his assassination had become big, and a very profitable business, for retailers. There were predictable grumbles that having sales and commercializing the King Holiday was virtually sacrilege and mocked everything that he stood for. Turning King into big business certainly did that. It was not hard to predict this would eventually happen……………………………….