A (slightly) sideways 2021 GR Yaris has put Toyota on the wrong side of Australia’s advertising regulators.
Australia’s best-selling car company has been forced to modify a Yaris advertisement, on the back of a complaint that “the commercial promotes speeding and may influence people to speed which is very dangerous”.
The complaint said Toyota had broken two parts of the Federal Chamber for Automotive Industries Motor Vehicle Advertising Code:
- Unsafe driving
- Breaking the speed limit
“Toyota takes the opinion of the complainant very seriously. However, it is our belief that the Advertisement does not contravene the FCAI Code or the applicable laws and regulations that govern community roads and driving standards,” Toyota said in response to the complaint.
A review by the Advertising Standards Bureau found the advertisement didn’t promote unsafe speed, but the GR Yaris breaking traction on its way out of its garage constituted “unsafe driving”.
The Yaris ad will be modified before it can be screened again.
Toyota isn’t the first carmaker to have advertisements pulled for seemingly insignificant ‘indiscretions’.
Ford was forced to re-cut its first Ranger Raptor ad because of what a complainant dubbed “ultra-fast acceleration”, and Volkswagen’s tongue-in-cheek ‘Too Powerful for TV’ commercial for the Amarok was modified after falling foul of regulators.
The FCAI in 2018 promised to review automotive advertising standards on the back on consistent complaints from a long-time road-safety activist.
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