Dodge made a massive social media mistake over the weekend, and the internet is offering exactly zero forgiveness, with Instagram commenters relentlessly piling on after the brand promoted street takeovers. This is a problem because street takeovers are totally wack, and anyone who participates them should be ashamed of themselves.
Having become especially popular during the pandemic, when many streets were empty and people were bored, street takeovers remain a popular way for people to put others’ lives in danger, or at the very least completely inconveniencing anyone else on the road. KTLA describes what a street takeover is in its story “What is a street takeover and how is social media fueling the illegal activity?“:
Illegal street takeovers have become a common occurrence in Los Angeles that authorities warn can turn deadly.
Takeovers typically involve “flash mobs” of hundreds of spectators and several cars that arrive in a coordinated manner at specific intersections, or even interstates, and blocking traffic to speed and show off dangerous stunts like drifting.
As vehicles turn and screech through intersections, spinning dangerously close to cheering crowds, the stunts are often filmed by onlookers and posted on social media — which police say generates even more interest in the illegal activity.
Illegal street racing has always been part of L.A.’s car culture, but police say the practice has changed over the years.
Per the Police Executive Research Forum, vehicles used in Street Takeovers are sometimes stolen.
This is the very worst of American car culture — an abhorrent display of utter recklessness and complete lack of consideration for the wellbeing of others. I cannot possibly denounce this activity more. Donuts in an empty parking lot with a friend or two is one thing, but a huge group of cars and people in the middle of an active intersection/street is something that else ‚ something totally unacceptable.
Which is why Dodge is being dragged after this Instagram post over the weekend:
This was part of a rather odd “marriage is scary” series of Instagram posts wherein the brand was trying to be funny, suggesting marriages are scary because of the risk that the partner isn’t into the car things you are into. The posts featured heritage cars (last-gen Chargers and Challengers), as well as some current models:
I was only able to take a screengrab of the main post and not of the comments, which were brutal. But even after Dodge deleted its post, the unrelenting continued in this other Dodge post:
View this post on Instagram
Here’s a look at the rightly-harsh comments replying to Dodge, a brand whose vehicles have been key to the whole street takeover movement, and a brand whose macho burnout-y, V8-y, muscle-y messagaging probably hasn’t helped, either:
First, I’ll say I’m proud of the car community for standing against dangerous, irresponsible, and inconsiderate idiocy known as Street Takeovers. That so many of us are united in this stance gives me hope, as it seemed for a while like the world was heading into chaos, with street takeovers happening far too regularly. But it’s clear that the masses think street takeovers are not cool, and Dodge — promoter of street takeovers via that Instagram post — is therefore also not cool. At least at this moment.
I’m not going to feed into cancel culture; I think people and organizations make mistakes, and so long as the mistake isn’t too egregious, we can all forgive and forget. This is just a social media post, and Dodge eventually removed it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we learned that whoever posted it didn’t fully understand what they were writing, and if they did, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dodge distanced themselves from that person. But I’m not going to speak for Dodge; after seeing this post yesterday (hat tip to David Osorio!) I reached out to the brand for comment but have not heard back. How they reply is how I’ll gauge how upset I want to be at the brand for promoting the very worst, most erosive part of car culture — a culture we here at The Autopian love and cherish so deeply.
Some here may remember, or have heard about, the infamous Schlitz beer commercials of the 1970’s that effectively destroyed the brand forever. Schlitz was already on its way out but the “Drink Schlitz or Die” commercials accelerated things dramatically.
Dodge and Stellantis (Jeez I hate that stupid name) are out of product and out of ideas. They need to figure out how to welcome all customers under a big tent, not just people who want to burn rubber and break the law.
Think about Subaru and their appeal to the outdoors, safety, dogs, camping, families, exploring, etc. Jeep could OWN that image and it’s a lost opportunity. Instead you get, what, jacked up mall crawlers, ducks and angry Jeep face? F that stuff.
I’m pretty sure more accurate statement for this crowd would be. “Marriage is scary because what if they find out about your subprime credit rating”
From the video
“Santa Ana police said they responded in time to give some Citations”
I suppose the cops are just trying to manage risk but I don’t see these hooligans swapping their current cars for slow old Chevrolets!
once again, most car marketing is really dumb. subaru marketing is still king of them all as they make the most sense, isn’t offensive, and if you don’t like dogs in commercials, well you suck.
But the cars…. ugh.
Thats why they needed the best marketing
I thought Dodge was big in certain political circles, you know, the “nobody is above the law” crowd……
Dodge is big with people with low credit scores and criminal records?
They’ve kowtowing to the MAGA crowd of late. I’d say this sort of thing dovetails pretty cleanly. They love sociopaths and felons.
Well, the current admin has a felon at the top. So, yeah.
They’re leaning too heavily into chest thumping bullshit. I like the new Ram V8 badge, but to call it the “Symbol of Protest Badge” is silly. Take it easy, Poindexter.
One aspect of street takeovers we don’t hear enough about and what makes then especially dangerous is the tendency for its spectators to violently attack any person or vehicle that encroaches on their displays of street anarchy including first responders.
Marriage is scary, but being prescribed Stellantis is even scarier.
Stellantis may cause… uh… well, we’re sure there must be a side effect somewhere, just hang on a minute….zzzzzz
That’s not a street takeover – that’s an incel circle jerk.
And then you embed a video showing one.
If you don’t want to encourage the practice, don’t include videos of it.
Seems more or less on brand to me… Extremely cringey, but they know their market.
Their market are the ones buying the cars which are then stolen by the ones destroying them more often then not.
What are the chances the post was written by AI used by some intern that’s never driven a car? Haha.
Technically all AIs are interns.
Higher than zero that’s for sure.
I reckon this post was made by someone who has no clue about car culture in any way, people vaguely aware that takeovers are “edgy” or something. I absolutely don’t think Stellantis are into takeovers or that they’re consciously pushing them.
Still dumb AF; they should really have someone with brains checking things out rather than posting at random…
I did not realize someone at Dodge was the ringleader of the Permanent Floating Riot Club (flash mob reference).
What an incredibly moronic, tone-deaf and douchey “campaign.” Who thought this was a good idea. So many red flags.
Most women didn’t see it and thus, Charger/Challenger owners may not be completely doomed. But if I was a woman, I’d avoid anyone with one.
Like, just now? This was what did it?
Oddly, I only know one person who owns a Challenger (zero Chargers), and she’s female.
I got stuck in a street takeover a few weeks ago in Michigan. Maybe about 90% of the cars were Dodge. The police showed up pretty quick, but there was maybe 4 cop cars for 200 suspect vehicles. They would light up and pull over people that they saw doing the stupidest stuff, but while they were writing the ticket there were only 3 cop cars left to chase everyone else.
Dodgy marketing now has a new benchmark.
Wait, dodge sells 18 cars?
18 cars this year, probably.
The Charger is discontinued, so is the Durango, and that Alfa Romeo with a Hornet nose is staying in Italy because of the Trump Tax. So that leaves what exactly?
Woah woah woah, where’d you hear the first two? Internal documents that’ve leaked have the Durango lasting until 2029 (and no, that’s not a joke) and they’re relatively close to launching the Hurricane Charger to be alongside the EV Charger.
In 2023 they said that the 2024 model year was the last year, then they had the farewell edition this year promising that it was going to be dead, I guess it’s like those 1970s rock bands that have been on farewell tours for 20 years even though all but one of them are dead.
First they came for the left-handed lug nuts, then they came for the longitudinal torsion bars, now it’s come to this.
Stellantis is the worst thing to happen to Dodge since the 1920 flu.
You’re correct about Stellantis being the worst thing to happen to Dodge… because the best thing to happen to Dodge was Lee Iacocca cranking out millions of k-cars. Every red-blooded American needs a box with sharp corners and a wheezy 2.2L engine. Still true today.
I’m an L-body man myself. Omnirizon forever!
They sold 18 Challengers that were still sitting on the lots, I assume.
Someone did this Dodge commercial with BeamNG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP7krepfSJc
I’ve seen these! They made a commercial for every/nearly every big manufacturer. Pretty on point, if a little bit exaggerated.
They royally screwed up. Not just the ad campaign, but the entirety of the brand.
So what if the 300, minivan, and charger/challenger, or whatever the f they call those things are old. What’s wrong with selling an old design, particularly when they work just fine?
It’s not like a minivan is somehow less useful than a so-called “SUV”. It’s just as “S” and has a lot more “U”. If you could make money selling it, and it meets current standards, why stop?
As for things like the 300 and its ilk, again, why not keep riding that pony? People love Chuck Taylors, Mechanical Watches, and Stratocasters, tube amplifiers, etc., etc., not because they are “better”, but because of the “magic”. The emotions. People drive wildly inappropriate cars based on emotions.
Hartley Peavy, namesake of the Peavy guitar brand, once said words to the effect that people want to believe in Magic. That 1959 Les Paul was made from wood dipped in magical swamp water, and the pickups were wound by a hermit in a cave, when it’s simply not true.
But its the magic that sells the product. And they have “magic” product…
As for things like the 300 and its ilk, again, why not keep riding that pony?
Up until recently I’d have said ever tightening federal safety, emissions and fuel economy standards.
So they can do what VW did, and start designing new product to sell along with the old product.
I don’t think the old product was selling. They stopped making the charger / challenger three years ago and still have new ones sitting on dealer lots.
I have no problem with platforms staying around a long time, my gripe is that the price rarely seems to reflect the age. If you’re priced similarly to competition with newer stuff, it’s a bad look.
When a company like Dodge/SRT has found its primary resonance with consumers to be 100% antisocial, the ad makes sense.
The reality is that the takeover part of the post wasn’t even its most problematic concept—quite the feat for a message that only involves two concepts.
Given the way their exhaust rattles the trash bins, I’d say their primary resonance is garbage.
The really brought into sharp focus the vague all the bad guys drive Dodges that had been there all along.
I feel a little guilty that I just went and participated in blocking off the comment section to take it over with a bunch of people making reckless comments. Like, did I learn anything here?
IIRCC the City of Pittsburgh actually once sponsored 1/8 mile drag races on closed roads over by the stadiums. Do it safe and controlled.
Now Dodge has opened itself up to liability. Any time somebody gets injured or killed, by someone participating in a street takeover in a Dodge, their lawyers can legitimately go after Dodge for advertising that as an approved use of their product.
I am sure law firms are already putting together hypothetical cases for any injured by a reckless driver in a Dodge purchased after this weekend, or maybe even stolen. A Dodge owner who has their car stolen and wrecked in a sideshow after this was posted might even have a case against Dodge
That’s why auto advertisements always have the “closed course and professional drivers, don’t drive like this, warranty voided if you do, etc”
Even setting aside the street takeover post, the rest of the ad campaign is still *incredibly* douchey.
yes, just leaning in to “cars for jerks” which isn’t overall a great plan IMO
I’m pretty sure guys who drive Dodges had hard times getting dates before, but now they might as well have big INCEL stickers on the cars.
Yes, incels I suppose, but also folks who are very much getting some, but are just … like … those abusive manosphere types obsessed with anything macho and “tough”…
Manosphere is almost exclusively the realm of incels.
Which is ironic since the man-o-sphere administration basically trashed all of Chrysler’s product plans and investments.
The manosphere rarely considers its policies. Just say the first thing you think of, and stick to it.
Man stuff. Grrr.
I REALLY wish I could post pics I got a year or so ago of some try-hard’s yellow lower-end Challenger with fuzzy boobs hanging from the rearview and a number of stickers on the rear window along the lines of: “Louder than your wife last night” (which could be interpreted to mean he’s a peeping tom), apparently cleaning out the gag bumper sticker clearance bin of Spencers at the local walking dead mall. It was the Dodge version of that infamous NY Lamborghini owned by a divorce attorney.
“Louder” could also be interpreted as he shtupped the reader’s wife last night. Both are awful.