A Volkswagen TV ad that boasted its new model was “too powerful for TV” has been taken off air for breaking the road rules. The ad interspersed scenes of the Amarok V6 ute driving, with shots of a “director” planning shots that wouldn’t be allowed under Australian advertising standards.
But the ad was reported to the Advertising Standards Board for encouraging dangerous driving, in particular reference to a scene where the ute was planned to overtake two side-by-side road trains by going off-road. It ran with the tagline, “Too powerful for TV”.
The ad, which industry news website Mumbrella awarded its October ad of the month, was found to have breached the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Code of Practice for Motor Vehicle Advertising (FCAI code):
The panel considered that while the advertisement does attempt to use humour and avoid breaching the FCAI code by cutting away from the footage of the vehicle, the vehicle is still depicted as starting to overtake the trains … The panel considered that there is significant community concern around road safety in relation to unsafe overtaking, (and) … even the suggestion of the vehicle overtaking and narrowly pulling in front of the roadtrains as they entered the canyon, through the use of models and storyboards, is a depiction that would be against road safety standards.
In voting for the ad for Mumbrella’s award, industry professionals praised it as “playful”, “epic” and “humorous”.
A Volkswagen spokesman told Crikey that the ad had been created to work within advertising restrictions, and noted the Mumbrella award:
Volkswagen respects the findings of Ad Standards and of course will adhere to them; but, as the original ad seeks to show, we are acutely aware of the many restrictions placed on car advertising in this country. There are several edits of the ad. Notably the ad was banned on the same day as it won ‘Ad of the Month’ in an advertising industry publication.
Under the code, car advertisements are not allowed to depict dangerous or illegal driving. Volkswagen argued to the panel that all the live scenes had been shot in a controlled environment and within the road rules when on public roads, and that it included disclaimers on-screen that it had been filmed under controlled conditions. But the panel ruled this was not sufficient, and that “the use of fantasy elements and exaggeration did not mitigate the depiction of unsafe driving”.
Volkswagen’s agent DDB, which produced the ad, is editing it for future broadcast.
Beside the fact it encourages dangerous driving its also complete bullshit.
Here’s a hint, ring up the most remote mechanic you can find and ask them what type of 4WD vehicle to buy if you want power, reliability and capability….. the answer remains the same for the last 30 years.
It isn’t VW.
If you like this type of vehicle, the specifications on this particular model are pretty good.
Personally I hate these pickup truck things but the advertisement and the engineering are two different things.
The current VW advertisement showing a young boy pushing another young boy aside at a child’s birthday party, is also horrible.
The advertisement is crass, condones thuggish behaviour, and is disturbing, as it promotes thug male behaviour as a strategy to win the attention of a young girl. And as the children in this advertisement are pre pubescent, it is even more disturbing.
Its a really creepy advertisement.
Some deluded old white man advertising executive’s twisted dream.
Totally agree, its a very disturbed ad, who could it actually be targeting as purchasers of the vehicle ?
Perhaps lonely weekend Dads unable to relate to their kids through any other medium than consumerism.
Both the above comments are spot-on from the viewpoints of reason, ethics and plain old-fashioned common sense. But in the amoral commercial world, how else is this disreputable company expected to sell its under-performing, expensive-to-maintain show-pony without appealing to the insecurities and fantasies of the over-paid small-dicks out there, who are so easily sucked in by this marketing BS.
The ad was aimed at the bogan yobbo type that have bought these 4WD utes in droves for years, probably even more a winner for VW now that the ad has been banned.
Everyone knows advertising is BS – so we are now censoring BS -bizarre society – follow me on #ThemToo – note VW doesn’t give emission figures which would round out the BS . should also feature tattooed drivers which would round out the desirability of the vehicle. I thought the ad was great -completely unbelievable -in keeping with the rest of recent VW image
You might find it unbelievable, but some young hoon might find it something to try to emulate.
Yes, and this stuff is designed to bypass the reasoning parts of the brain and manipulatively influence the non-rational lizard brain.