Spirit of the Legendary Dodge Brothers Lives on in New Ad Campaign Introducing 2015 Model Year Dodge Muscle Cars and Celebrating Brand's 100th Anniversary

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Oct. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

• First television ad in series begins Saturday, Oct. 4, for the new 2015 Dodge Challenger
• Fully integrated campaign highlights the Dodge Brothers' passion for making great cars and how that passion and spirit still drives Dodge brand today
• Additional television, print and digital ads launch later this year for 2015 Dodge Charger and Dodge SRT Hellcats and Viper
• View ads at www.youtube.com/dodge

One-hundred years after John and Horace Dodge created the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company, the brothers' spirit lives on in a new advertising campaign launching this weekend with television spots for the 2015 Dodge Challenger.

The cinematic "Ballroom – They Dreamed Big," debuting Saturday, Oct. 4, is the first ad in a series that captures the spirit and passion John and Horace Dodge had for making great cars and how their vision for the future is still very much what drives the Dodge brand today. The campaign imagines that the Dodge brothers would be very proud of the new 2015 Challenger and upcoming 2015 Dodge muscle cars. Additional television, print and digital ads launch later this year for the 2015 Dodge Charger and 2015 Dodge SRT Hellcats and Viper.

"Dodge has a very specific DNA, a bloodline that traces back to the Dodge brothers' passion for making great cars," said Olivier Francois, Chief Marketing Officer, Chrysler Group LLC. "The new campaign captures the spirit of innovation and enthusiasm the Dodge brothers had when they founded the brand 100 years ago. Everything Dodge does today honors John and Horace Dodge's legacy. Their spirit lives on through this campaign and the Dodge vehicles of today."

"Ballroom – They Dreamed Big" tells an imaginary tale of John (Tyler Bryan) and Horace (Joe Coffery) Dodge celebrating their success with friends 100 years ago. The voiceover says, "As boys, the Dodge brothers made their own bicycles ... John went on to hold office, Horace supported the orchestra. They raced yachts. Their lives were big, but their dreams were even bigger.  One-hundred years later, this is how their spirit lives on." The spot ends with a shot of the new 2015 Dodge Challenger next to two 1915 Dodge Touring cars and closes with "The New 2015 Dodge Challenger" and "Their Spirit Lives On" supers.

"Ballroom – They Dreamed Big" was created for broadcast, digital and mobile uses.  The 30-second spot debuts Saturday, Oct. 4, on CBS college football games. It will also run Sunday, Oct. 5, on FOX, NBC and CBS professional football game broadcasts and continue airing in October on late night, primetime, sports and cable programs. The spot can be seen on Dodge's YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/dodge.

The fully integrated campaign includes full-page and spread print ads. The first ads show the 2015 Dodge Challenger with the headline "They may be gone, but they left us the keys." The ads will run in enthusiast, lifestyle and general market magazines and newspapers.  

The new campaign was created in partnership with Portland, Ore.-based independent advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy.

About the Dodge Brothers
John Francis Dodge and his brother, Horace Elgin Dodge, were born into a family of machinists and grew up in Niles, Mich., and other Michigan cities before the brothers moved to Detroit in 1886. By 1896, Horace, John and their partner, Harold Evans, began manufacturing Evans & Dodge Bicycles with new wheel bearings Horace invented. The Dodge brothers opened their own machine shop in 1901. Their first automotive customer was Ransom Eli Olds and his Olds Motor Works. The brothers then began supplying parts to Henry Ford and, by 1913, John and Horace Dodge supplied Ford with most of the components used in building his Ford Motor Company cars. 

John and Horace Dodge founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company in 1914 and, on November 14 of that year, their first car, dubbed "Old Betsy," rolled out of their plant. Just three years later, Dodge became the fourth largest American automobile manufacturer.

John and Horace Dodge both died in 1920; John in January at the age of 55 and Horace in December at 52 years old.

About the new 2015 Dodge Challenger
With record sales levels since the reintroduction of the Challenger in 2008, the Dodge brand's performance icon continues to deliver exactly what muscle car enthusiasts want – a powerful and efficient engine lineup, iconic muscle-car design with numerous personalization packages. And now for 2015, every Dodge Challenger model offers more performance and technology than ever before.

With its award-winning 305 horsepower Pentastar V-6 engine now mated to a state-of-the-art TorqueFlite eight-speed transmission for improved performance and an impressive 30 mpg highway (11 percent improvement from 2014), the Dodge Challenger SXT is the most powerful, refined and technologically advanced entry-level Challenger ever.

New 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T models are led by the all-new R/T Scat Pack, with track-proven hardware and SRT-designed 6.4-liter HEMI V-8 engine delivering best-in-class naturally-aspirated 485 horsepower and 475 lb.-ft. of torque, this hardcore muscle car turns out mid 4-second 0-60 mph times and low 12-second quarter mile times. And when optioned with the segment-exclusive TorqueFlite eight-speed transmission, the new Challenger R/T Scat Pack delivers up to a 9 percent improvement in fuel economy and up to 25 mpg on the highway – worthy of gas guzzler tax exemption.

The 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT 392 is powered by the same 6.4-liter HEMI V-8 engine as the R/T Scat Pack and adds SRT-tuned adaptive damping system (ADS), SRT Performance Pages, the largest SRT front-brake package ever offered 390-mm (15.4-inch) by Brembo, SRT Drive Modes to tailor the driving experience and standard 20-by-9.5-inch aluminum wheels.

The all-new 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is the most powerful muscle car ever with its 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI Hellcat V-8 engine producing an unrivaled 707 horsepower, 650 ft.-lb. of torque and up to 22 mpg on the highway. Add in the aggressive and functional exterior styling, race-inspired interior, and the all-new Challenger SRT Hellcat takes the muscle car segment to a level once unthinkable.

About Dodge
The Dodge brand is tearing into its centennial year as America's mainstream performance brand, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2014. With the purification of the brand and consolidation with SRT, Dodge is getting back to its performance roots with every single model it offers. The consolidated Dodge and SRT brands will offer a complete lineup of performance vehicles that stand out within their own segments. Dodge will be the "mainstream performance" brand within the Chrysler showroom. SRT will be positioned as the "ultimate performance" halo of the Dodge brand, together creating a complete and balanced performance brand with one vision and one voice. From muscle cars to compact cars, minivans, crossovers and full-size SUVs, the Dodge brand's full lineup of 2015 models deliver best-in-class horsepower, class-exclusive technology, unmatched capability and a slew of cool features, such as LED headlamps, Dodge signature racetrack tail lamps, dual exhaust, 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment centers and 7-inch thin-film transistor (TFT) customizable gauge clusters, to name a few. For the 2015 model year, customers will be able to drive the new 2015 Dodge Charger and Challenger, as well as the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat. The Dodge brand lineup also includes the 2015 Dodge Dart, Durango, Grand Caravan and Journey, including the new Crossroad model, and Dodge Viper. 

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SOURCE Chrysler Group LLC