Carsales Staff•24 Sept 2013
NEWS
Holden, Hyundai TV commercial complaints dismissed
Advertising Standards Bureau gives mid-sized model protests the heave-hoThe Advertising Standards Bureau has granted a pass mark to two TV commercials after receiving complaints alleging that the commercials didn't meet the necessary standard the community expected.
One TV watcher, who claimed to be a "cyclist, parent and medical practitioner," denounced the advertisement for Holden's mid-sized Malibu sedan on the grounds that it showed a cyclist placed at risk by the car driving too closely and the car's occupants eluding police. This, according to the complainant, sends a clear message that it's fine to keep driving, rather than stopping at the scene of an accident and render assistance. Furthermore, the complaint continued, the Malibu's driver and passenger were portrayed as "cool guys", encouraging impressionable members of the TV viewing audience to engage in similar behaviour.
An abridged version of the complaint/s received follows:
The ad shows the car travelling dangerously close to a cyclist, causing the cyclist to crash.
The car drives on and then hides from police.
This shows illegal actions from the driver, in that he contributed to an accident, failed to stop and render assistance (leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal act), then proceeds to hide from police (another offence).
Advertising should not show dangerous driving or illegal actions.
In my opinion this ad goes well beyond harmless fun, particularly in a society where there are already drivers who consider cyclists fair sport.
And here's how Holden responded:
The Holden Malibu did not cause the bike rider to crash and the Advertisement contains no “reckless or menacing driving” as prohibited by the Code. In the Advertisement the Holden Malibu is never shown to be driving close to the cyclist. In fact, the only time the Malibu is shown driving near to the cyclist is after the cyclist crashes into the fruit stand. Further, on no reasonable view can the Holden Malibu be said to have “pushed the cyclist off the road.”
Two complaints reference the Malibu swerving around the cyclist and driving fast on a narrow street. The driver of the Holden Malibu necessarily drives around the fruit spilled onto the road, not the cyclist, in a controlled manner.
At no time during the Advertisement does the vehicle travel at excessive speed.
Another complaint targeted a TV commercial for Hyundai's i40. The grounds for the complaint stemmed from the portrayal of other drivers as animals and the tagline for the ad ('They're out there'). The complainant's objections seemed to revolve around stereotyping anthropomorphic animals as bad drivers, when animals in reality can't actually operate vehicles.
The complaint follows:
I am not sure what the point is. But it insinuates the other driver is always "the other" something " less than human" in another era they would probably offer a black person, a female an older person or perhaps a disabled person in its place. There is no evidence to prove that the animals depicted have a propensity for any of the activities shown, let alone, in themselves are less caring or disrespectful to either their fellow species or any others. It objectifies animals. It encourages use of metaphorical language to describe offensive behaviour utilising animals....such ad [sic] "what an ape" " crazy like a wolf" it is insulting to animals... And although may not be offensive to many people I find it discriminatory in nature and in attitude toward animals and people alike. Not to mention the fact that most animals do not have the ability to drive, and I would not hesitate to say that absolutely no non-human animal has a licence to drive, thus it is showing illegal activity during the course of an advertisement. Please advise me of the outcome, and if found to not be relevant, your explanations as to why it is not offensive and should not be removed are requested.
Hyundai made the following points in rebuttal:
We note that at all times the driver of the featured i40 vehicle is driving very carefully, in full control of the vehicle, observing the road and obeying the road rules. Indeed, he is remaining watchful of any potential hazards at all times, as per the tone and overall message of the advertisement. At no stage does the driver appear to be driving aggressively or incompetently, taking unnecessary risks, or driving at an unsafe speed. There is one scene where the driver is forced to undertake a drastic manoeuvre in order to avoid a collision with an on-road hazard (i.e. the falling palette load), however his response in that scene is appropriate and is still undertaken with extreme caution and within the road rules.
Regarding the depiction of non-human drivers, they may appear to be driving slightly erratically at times, however, these instances are very brief and each scene concludes with the vehicle being driven by the non-human in a safe manner. Further, the depiction of nonhumans driving somewhat erratically is not intended to endorse such driving, but in fact the opposite. The advertisement uses this fantasy device to point out an important reality, namely, that erratic driving should not be encouraged but nevertheless unpredictable drivers exist on our roads. The advertisement is intended as a reminder to everyone to be always cautious. It should also be noted that none of this erratic driving is occurring using the featured i40 vehicle.
In each respective case the ASB opted to take the matter no further.
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Hyundai
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Written byCarsales Staff
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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