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 stated was related to the growling sound of a excessive efficiency engine, however Toyota stated have been merely initials.
One other Toyota defence was to say that the “That … feeling” line is frequent in advertisements (which doesn’t replicate nicely on inventive ambition), so audiences can be conversant in it and “interpret the declare solely as a reference to the sensation of enjoyment.”
There was additionally a difficulty across the phrase “coronary heart pumping pleasure” and the truth that the autos are pictured too shut collectively on one thing that appears like a public highway, ready that means they might be racing one another. Toyota stated the absence of highway markings advised in any other case and the proximity is clearly about getting totally 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 autos meant that drivers of these autos might push the boundaries of secure and accountable driving and that it was fascinating and gratifying to take action. We concluded that in so doing the advert condoned and inspired unsafe or irresponsible driving, and as such breached the Code.”
