A nationwide newspaper advert for Toyota by The&Partnership has been banned by the Promoting Requirements Authority for condoning and inspiring irresponsible driving.
The advert is for Toyota’s GR Sequence, which is constructed on data and know-how developed for its Gazoo Racing motorsport model. There are references to “That GR feeling,” which the ASA mentioned was related to the growling sound of a excessive efficiency engine, however Toyota mentioned had been merely initials.
One other Toyota defence was to say that the “That … feeling” line is widespread in advertisements (which doesn’t mirror effectively on inventive ambition), so audiences could be conversant in it and “interpret the declare solely as a reference to the sensation of enjoyment.”
There was additionally a problem across the phrase “coronary heart pumping pleasure” and the truth that the automobiles are pictured too shut collectively on one thing that appears like a public highway, ready that means they could possibly be racing one another. Toyota mentioned the absence of highway markings steered in any other case and the proximity is clearly about getting completely different fashions within the image.
The ASA’s judgement states: “We thought of that the general impression created by the advert was a suggestion that the excessive efficiency nature of GR Sequence automobiles meant that drivers of these automobiles may push the boundaries of protected and accountable driving and that it was fascinating and satisfying to take action. We concluded that in so doing the advert condoned and inspired unsafe or irresponsible driving, and as such breached the Code.”
