Last Saturday, a tragic incident occurred during a protest against a Neo-Nazi rally when James Alex Fields drove his Dodge Challenger into a crowded alley, killing one protester, Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 others. On the same day, Roadkill announced the return of its Roadkill Nights event in Pontiac, MI, an occasion sponsored and promoted by Dodge. This year’s event will feature the now-defunct Viper, the Hellcat versions of both the Charger and Challenger, as well as a full cockpit simulator for a quarter-mile drag race in the Dodge Demon. However, the timing was unfortunate, as the attack overshadowed the launch of an ad campaign that included the term “roadkill.”
Understanding the potential for negative associations between their Dodge-sponsored event and the violence in Charlottesville, Roadkill released a statement on Monday condemning the weekend’s events.
Meanwhile, Dodge faced backlash for not promptly removing promotional tweets featuring the #RoadkillNights hashtag, which led to criticism on Twitter. Many people unfamiliar with the Roadkill web show conflated the event with the earlier attack.
Dodge ultimately acknowledged its oversight and deleted the tweets with the hashtag by Tuesday afternoon. They later issued a formal apology through email, as reported by Automotive News.
“It’s unfortunate that such a pure, safe, family-friendly automotive event was linked to such a senseless, horrific act,” the apology stated.
Roadkill and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) are not the only organizations taking steps to dissociate from the events of August 12. Uber has banned several riders related to the incident, while Facebook and Google have also implemented measures in response.
While Dodge may have been slow to react to the criticism regarding their tweets, it is understandable given that the negative feedback primarily came from individuals outside the automotive realm. Neither Roadkill staff nor Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had any reason to correlate their inclusive event with the tragic happenings hundreds of miles away. In the grand scheme of advertising blunders, this situation could certainly have been worse..
