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NEWS
Focus on Ford TV ad
Charges by critics of Active City Stop TV commercial dismissed by Advertising Standards BureauFollowing a recent complaint about the political correctness of a Honda Accord TV commercial, Ford Australia has also copped some flak about its Focus Active City Stop TV ad.
The commercial depicts a discussion between a female driver and a male passenger about an incident in which the car’s Active City Stop system had intervened to avoid a collision with a car that had braked suddenly in front of her.
In the commercial, the male passenger questions the driver about her experience, asking if the incident played out in slow motion for her. The driver describes how the Focus’ auto braking system helped bring the car to a stop.
The charges were that the ad “flies in the face” of road rules governing inattentive driving and that the depiction of a driver not “maintaining appropriate following distances” while showing “less awareness of safe gaps in traffic” illustrates actions that are “deemed an offence under law.”
Ford’s response was that the commercial breached neither the AANA Code of Ethics, nor the FCAI Voluntary Code of Practice for Motor Vehicle Advertising. Further, it said a disclaimer in the ad brings attention to the fact the technology is “not a substitute for driver alertness.
“The Ford Focus TVC was carefully crafted to demonstrate the Active City Stop technology, without showing any driving which could be considered to be unsafe or inattentive. The Ford Focus TVC does not show any driving which would contravene any road related laws or regulations but rather uses a theatrical performance by the front passenger to show the type of situation the Active City Stop feature could assist to avoid.”
The Advertising Standards Board subsequently found that the AANA Code of Ethics did not apply in this case, while the ad did not breach the FCAI code and the complaint was dismissed.
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