Advertising for the Dodge brand will take on an aggressive new look and attitude starting Monday, September 24, during the season debut of NFL Monday Night Football on ABC.
Using the brand's new "Grab Life by the Horns" themeline, Dodge television advertising will combine edgy black and white images, music by Aerosmith and introduce the "New Mayor of Truckville," the next-generation Dodge Ram.
"The creative treatment gives the Dodge ads a real American truck attitude," said Julie Roehm, Director, Dodge Marketing Communications. "They're proud, tough and full of energy. We've distilled the true American essence of Dodge and focused on our can-do attitude."
Two 30-second television spots will run during Monday night's game, while the print campaign is scheduled to break simultaneously. Print ads include an eight-page USA Today newspaper insert, dubbed by Roehm, a "print-acular," featuring the 2002 Dodge Ram, which went on sale this month.
Dodge's two television ads, "Reflections" and "Truckville," have a monochromatic look and feature cinema-caliber, computer-generated image (CGI) effects that highlight the bold looks of the all-new Ram.
In the spot "Reflections," Monday Night Football viewers will see an overhead shot of the next-generation Ram — "The Mayor" — and a Freightliner-pulled Aerosmith tractor-trailer speeding toward a cityscape, later identified as "Truckville." As the camera swoops in, viewers catch a side portrait of the "Mayor" in a reflection from the Freightliner's mammoth hubcaps as the Ram overtakes the Aerosmith semi entering the city. As it powers through the city streets the Ram takes an aggressive 180-degree spin to stop at the doorsteps of Truckville City Hall. The spot ends by introducing the new "Mayor of Truckville," showing the 2002 Dodge Ram standing proud in front of City Hall and finishing with the themeline "Grab Life by the Horns."