Ad, 1975. The low speed chase was far in the future, still.
The Pinto recall was 1978, although prior incidents led to it. The history has nuance and complexity, and important context has been lost as it was distilled into a cultural memory through the filter of time, a sound-bitey press, and more recently, a social media world that thrives on outrage.
Regardless, the ad did not age particularly well, through no real fault of Hertz's.
Still remembered by an abuser by his first wife as well as Nicole's sisters and several first responders and 911 operators. There were signs for years. So not that shocking for some.
His public persona was the safe black guy. He actively avoided activism and famously said, "I'm not black. I'm OJ." He was close enough to cops that they handled him with kid gloves when he was arrested for the murders. Compare the slow Bronco chase to Rodney King's treatment 2 years prior. Some communities saw him on wholesome but there was a lot more ambivalence about him elsewhere.