Dodge’s New Ad Campaign: ‘Save The Planet From Lame, Soulless, Weak-Looking, Self-Driving Sleep Pods Everyone Keeps Polluting Our Streets With’

There are a few brands for whom a transition to electric vehicles is especially tough. The top two that come to mind are Lotus, whose entire reputation is based on lightweight sports cars (difficult to do with heavy batteries), and Dodge, a brand whose reputation is built on big, powerful, loud, gasoline-sucking V8s. But Dodge is transitioning towards electrification like the rest of the industry, which means it has to convince V8-lovers that this is not “lame,” but in fact, cool. Here’s the new ad campaign the brand is using to try to pull that off.

The term “lame” is one that surprises me a bit, not because I myself am especially politically correct, but because large companies have for a while now strayed away from controversial terms like that (in this case, it’d be considered by some to be ableist). I don’t really want to get into the topic of PC, but I mention this only because it shows the vibe Dodge is going with for its new ad campaign; the brand clearly isn’t concerned about offending some people, and a lot of its customers probably aren’t, either.

The brand just issued a press release titled “Save the Planet … From Soulless EVs! World’s Quickest and Most Powerful Muscle Car, the All-new Dodge Charger Daytona, Lands Now With New Marketing Campaign.” It begins with this:

Dodge comes to the rescue! The Dodge brand revealed its marketing campaign for the brand’s first fully electric vehicle, the Dodge Charger Daytona, the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car. And let’s just say, electric vehicles aren’t changing what Dodge stands for one tiny bit.

That makes sense. You’ve built an audience around V8 burnout-machines; you’ve got to cater to that audience, just as I need to cater to my audience here at The Autopian by writing articles for enthusiasts. The reality is that many Dodge customers are married to gas engines, it was Dodge who officiated the weddings:

And those are the recent commercials; in truth, Dodge has been getting folks to fall in love with gas V8s for much longer. You might remember these “That Thing Got A Hemi?” ads from 20 years ago:

So after spending so much time (and money) getting folks to love gasoline, Dodge convincing those same folks to give it up for electricity won’t be easy. We wrote a story earlier this year titled “Mopar Fans Freak Out (In The Worst Way) After Dodge Posts Electric Charger Fake Exhaust Sound,” showing just how much of an uphill battle Dodge has, as its audience grapples with electrification. Here are some screengrabs from the comments:

This video from earlier this year showing CEO Tim Kuniskis trying to convince diehard Dodge fans why EVs make sense is pretty wild, too, and a good indication of just how tough of a job Dodge has ahead:

But let’s get back to the latest ad campaign — the one from the press release I mentioned earlier. Here’s the latest spot:

In case you can’t watch that because you’re at work, here’s the narration for Dodge’s new “Save The Planet” ad:

“We aren’t’ building electric vehicles because it’s trendy.
We’re building them to make a difference.
To protect our future and our children’s future, we’re building electric vehicles to save our planet.
To save it from all those lame, soulless, weak-looking, self-driving sleep pods everyone else keeps polluting our streets with … (gah)!
(scenes of Dodge Charger Daytona taking over the streets)
That’s why we’re doing it.”

While I’d probably add “because we have significant regulatory reasons to do so,” I think the ad — while controversial for some — is fine. Actually, I’d say that, while EV lovers may not be huge fans of Dodge’s rather macho approach, calling other EVs “lame, soulless, weak-looking,” the approach might ultimately be a good thing for EVs. The reality is that there are tens of thousands of people out there who think EVs are wack, and any company spending its own resources to try to rid of that mentality is only a good thing for EV adoption.

It’s a bit hilariously simple and maybe corny (Dodge itself says the ad has “a tinge, or perhaps more of a blast, of irony”), but I don’t mind it. What do you think?