Dodge brand today launched the 60-second “Family Motto” video across its social media channels. The spot, which celebrates the brand’s historic, recent, first-place finishes in both the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market) and J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS), stars Gary Cole reprising his role as Reese Bobby and the iconic line, “if you ain’t first, you’re last,” from the 2006 Sony Pictures film “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”
The music track featured in the 60-second video is “Shot in the Dark,” the first new AC/DC song that the band has released together in six years (AC/DC’s song “T.N.T.” was featured in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”).
The spot opens circa 1981 in Talladega County with Reese Bobby, in a new 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, on a walkie talkie imploring his young son Ricky Bobby, who appears to be driving a 2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye and who yells, “I wanna go fast,” to pull the vehicle over. During the chase, Ricky Bobby calls out to his best friend Cal Naughton Jr., who appears to pull up next to Ricky in a 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock and who proudly proclaims, “I had Mountain Dew for breakfast,” to help him outrun his father by using the infamous Shake ‘n Bake maneuver (with a twist!), leaving his father proud and asking his son to remember the family motto, “if you ain’t first, you’re last.”
“In our 60-second film, we needed to stay 100% true to the spirit of the original film, while simultaneously communicating the Dodge brand’s record of ‘firsts’ as ranked by our owners,” said Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer. “Maintaining brand authenticity extended beyond Sony Pictures, including our music alliance with Columbia Records and AC/DC, in addition to Gary Cole reprising his role as Reese Bobby, and having the original movie’s cinematographer, Oliver Wood, involved with this project. Together, we were able to accomplish this epic creative endeavor celebrating the Dodge brand’s first-place wins, which could almost be envisioned as a deleted scene from the original movie.”
Midway through the chase, the action stops and Ricky Bobby says to the camera, “Ok, our lawyers just want you to know that this isn’t real,” to which 10-year-old Cal Naughton Jr. says, “my stunt driver is a 45-year-old man!”
“Dodge is honored to be the first domestic brand to rank No. 1 is not only the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study but also the J.D. Power Consumer APEAL Study (mass market) in the same year,” said Tim Kuniskis, Global Head of Alfa Romeo and Head of Passenger Cars – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. “And Dodge is launching three 700-plus-horsepower muscle cars this year with the new Challenger SRT Super Stock, Durango SRT Hellcat, and Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, proving that we firmly believe our new ‘Family Motto,’ ‘if you ain’t first, you’re last.'”
The Dodge brand’s “Family Motto” was created in partnership with GSD&M.
Source: Dodge
