ATLANTA — Danica Kombol viewed Dodge’s Super Bowl ad with a mix of horror and incredulity. Surely an auto company was not using audio of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in a commercial for pickup trucks.

“When we were watching it we were like … no. They couldn’t. They couldn’t. They did,” said Kombol, a social media strategist and CEO of the Everywhere Agency.

The Dodge ad, titled “Built to Serve,” features audio from a fiery, inspiring public oration from King, and modern clips of people pitching in to help those in need. The trucks only appear briefly a couple of times, and the message seems to be their highest use is in serving others.

Although Dodge might have had the best of intentions, the ad was tone deaf, Kombol said.

“Dodge tried to ram MLK’s speech down our throats to sell some trucks,” she said. “They hijacked a Civil Rights leaders’ words for their own purposes.”

To be clear, Dodge had the proper legal clearance to use the audio and at least some official blessing. Intellectual Properties Management is the licenser of the King estate. Dexter Scott King is the organization’s CEO and CFO and, as of 2011, Bernice King is the secretary, according to documents.

In a statement, managing director Eric Tidwell explained how Dodge obtained the legal OK to use the late King’s voice:

“When Ram approached the King Estate with the idea of featuring Dr. King’s voice in a new ‘Built To Serve’ commercial, we were pleasantly surprised at the existence of the Ram Nation volunteers and their efforts.… Once the final creative was presented for approval, it was reviewed to ensure it met our standard integrity clearances. We found that the overall message of the ad embodied Dr. King’s philosophy that true greatness is achieved by serving others.”

Amid the swift social media furor, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change posted a message saying neither the center nor Bernice King, its CEO, are the governing authorities in charge of licensing use of King’s images or words.