A Toyota sports activities automobile advert that “condoned and encouraged unsafe or irresponsible driving” has been banned by a watchdog.
The advertising promotion for the excessive efficiency GR Series automobiles appeared that drivers “could push the boundaries of safe and responsible driving and that it was desirable and enjoyable to do so”, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) dominated.
The advert, which appeared in two newspapers in April and May 2022, featured a picture of three automobiles driving shut collectively alongside a rustic highway, with the headline “That GR Feeling”.
At the underside, it said: “Precise. Balanced. Playful. It’s this elusive combination that delivers the heart-pumping excitement of the Toyota GR Series. Pure performance cars, born from Toyota Gazoo Racing. And now on a road near you.”
Three complainants, together with by the Worthing Green Party which believed the advert condoned and inspired driving behaviour that was harmful, challenged whether or not the advert was irresponsible.
Toyota defended the advert, arguing folks would solely learn the “GR” within the headline phonetically, as referring to the mannequin of the automobiles, quite than a growling sound of a excessive efficiency engine.
The agency additionally stated the phrase “that feeling” was used generally in adverts, referring to a sense of enjoyment quite than driving quick.
It added the automobiles mustn’t have been interpreted as racing on a public highway and disagreed with complaints that readers would see the phrases “playful” and “heart pumping excitement” as a reference to irresponsible driving.
However, the ASA dominated the poster should not seem in the identical kind.
It stated: “We considered that the overall impression created by the ad was a suggestion that the high performance nature of GR Series vehicles meant that drivers of those vehicles could push the boundaries of safe and responsible driving and that it was desirable and enjoyable to do so.
“We concluded that in so doing the advert condoned and inspired unsafe or irresponsible driving.”
Source: information.sky.com”