--- title: Stephen Colbert Slams Dodge MLK Super Bowl 2018 Commercial description: Stephen Colbert takes Dodge to task for their controversial Martin Luther King, Jr. commercial spot during the 2018 Super Bowl. canonical: https://time.com/5135309/stephen-colbert-dodge-mlk-commercial-super-bowl-2018/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-06T16:58:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:50:22.864Z og:title: Stephen Colbert Slams Dodge MLK Jr. Super Bowl 2018 Ad og:description: The late night funnyman takes Dodge to task og:url: https://time.com/5135309/stephen-colbert-dodge-mlk-commercial-super-bowl-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8950ce9628e71d4/6988fac30a4a2267fa9d1a5a/stephen-colbert-super-bowl-2018-commercials.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Slams Dodge MLK Jr. Super Bowl 2018 Ad twitter:description: The late night funnyman takes Dodge to task twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8950ce9628e71d4/6988fac30a4a2267fa9d1a5a/stephen-colbert-super-bowl-2018-commercials.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Colbert Is the Toughest Super Bowl Commercial Critic Ever > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=738a0322-85b2-43b6-ad15-e211dc8dbaa2&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 6, 2018 4:58 PM UTC  NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday's 01/19/16 show in New York. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images) NEW YORK - JANUARY 19: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday's 01/19/16 show in New York. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images) CBS Photo Archive—CBS via Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 6, 2018 4:58 PM UTC When [Dodge](http://fortune.com/2018/02/05/dodge-ram-mlk-super-bowl-commercial-2018/) debuted [a commercial](http://time.com/5128725/best-super-bowl-commercials-2018/) during the [2018 Super Bowl](http://time.com/5133184/selfie-kid-justin-timberlake-super-bowl-halftime-show/) that prominently featured a speech from [Martin Luther King, Jr.](http://time.com/5096937/martin-luther-king-jr-picture-chicago/), they [faced plenty of criticism](http://time.com/5132811/martin-luther-king-dodge-ram-super-bowl-commercial/) from viewers who questioned the use of the legendary civil rights leader’s voice and message to essentially sell trucks. On Monday night, however, Stephen Colbert took the critique one step further by providing a satirical look at other humanitarian leaders who could provide a glowing endorsement of Dodge’s offerings. Colbert addressed the controversy on _The Late Night with Stephen Colbert_ with his signature humor before cracking a joke about using Dr. King’s speech. “Now, that sounds inappropriate — until you remember that Dr. King was awarded the J.D. Power and Associates Best Midsize Humanitarian,” Colbert said. “And initial customer satisfaction, I believe, is what he got.” Colbert then showed a “follow-up” commercial that showed the Dalai Lama, Joan of Arc, and Helen Keller co-signing the 2018 Ram, a truck with “an interior roomy enough for Harriet Tubman and Gandhi to make out with each other.” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5135309/stephen-colbert-dodge-mlk-commercial-super-bowl-2018/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5135309/stephen-colbert-dodge-mlk-commercial-super-bowl-2018/"},"headline":"Stephen Colbert Is the Toughest Super Bowl Commercial Critic Ever","datePublished":"2018-02-06T16:58:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:50:22.864Z","description":"The late night funnyman takes Dodge to task","url":"https://time.com/5135309/stephen-colbert-dodge-mlk-commercial-super-bowl-2018/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","stephen colbert","Late Night Television","the late show with stephen colbert","super bowl 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8950ce9628e71d4/6988fac30a4a2267fa9d1a5a/stephen-colbert-super-bowl-2018-commercials.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8950ce9628e71d4/6988fac30a4a2267fa9d1a5a/stephen-colbert-super-bowl-2018-commercials.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","caption":"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert","creditText":"CBS Photo Archive—CBS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5135309/stephen-colbert-dodge-mlk-commercial-super-bowl-2018/","name":"Stephen Colbert Is the Toughest Super Bowl Commercial Critic Ever"}}]}] ```