When Something Goes Awry

Within seconds of the end of last evening's Super Bowl American football  game, the chatter, both systematic and ad hoc had begun online and in living rooms everywhere the game was watched. The chatter was not about the game, engaging as it was throughout the evening, but about the annual spectacle that is the Super Bowl television ads. Tide was a clear winner, as was Doritos/Mountain Dew, Amazon Alexa, and the NFL itself, but the target of much of the chatter was the Dodge Ram ad featuring the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. Even as I watched the ad, all I could think about was whatever led someone to green light such a crass and tasteless ad?I mean, those things (Super Bowl ads) are never the solitary work of one person; rather, they get designed by a bunch of smart people over multiple iterations. And for what those spots cost, they get vetted and approved at multiple levels. Did everyone think it was a good idea? I don't believe it! Someone, in one or another meeting, had to be sitting there thinking that mixing MLK and selling trucks had to be a terrible idea. Yet somehow it got produced, shown, and Dodge got pilloried (as it should).We could just chalk this up to corporate stupidity, unwillingness to speak truth to power, or just too much alcohol at the ad agency meetings, but we see examples of the same thing happening all over from airlines, retail stores, and yes, private schools. We need to make it a requirement that someone other than the person who thought up the idea spend some serious time thinking about how it could all go seriously wrong. And those in charge need to pay attention.