Valvoline and Rexona fall foul of the ad watchdog over safety issues
The ad watchdog has ruled against a TV ad for Valvoline, ruling it depicts unsafe driving, and a print ad for Rexona for depicting unsafe biking practices.
While Rexona has accepted the ruling and assured the Advertising Standards Board it won’t use the offending material again, Valvoline will be seeking a review of the ad watchdog’s ruling.
Created by MJW, the ad suggests that horsepower has a primal effect on man, with the driver featured becoming more hairy and dirty as the ad progresses before he steps out of the car at the end to reveal he is the image of a clean-cut modern man. The ASB ruled it depicted unsafe driving and encouraged unsafe practice of burnouts or drifting.
A complaint to the ASB read: “Hoon driving is a serious community problem and this ad promotes hook driving. This is very irresponsible and not acceptable considering the road trauma which results from hook driving. I’m aware car companies can’t use high speed driving to promote vehicles and this should be considered the same.”
Another said: “The driving seen is unacceptable and encourages reckless driving. I noticed this advertisement a lot over the Easter break and feel it is unacceptable given the risk of the driving shown on tv, encouraging hoons to be like real men.”
Defending the spot, Valvoline told the ASB the drivers of the vehicles “are clearly depicted a primal men/Neanderthals in a fantasy scenario”.
“They are not intended, nor are they portrayed, to be human characters in a realistic setting. They are not intended, nor are they portrayed, to be human characters in a realistic setting.”
Valvoline denied that the ad encouraged reckless driving, telling the watchdog: “Nowhere in the advertisement are these drivers glorified or applauded; rather this driving is clearly in the context of a fantasy situation and the portrayal of the drivers as wild creatures clearly implies their behaviour is not sophisticated or desirable and definitely not to be copied.
“In any event, we confirm that none of the stunt style driving takes place on any public road or in any public area and were performed by professional stunt drivers. Where the driving takes place in public roads there is no “stunt” driving taking place, only standard driving within the traffic regulations.”
In its ruling, the board “noted that the advertisement is intended to make the main characters appear primal or Neanderthal in nature” however also noted “that the distinction between the characters not being ‘real’ or being non-human is not clear”.
It decided that it was “not apparent that the character is no longer going to drive in a manner that is primal or reckless”.
Ruling that the message being delivered in the ad “was not clearly about choosing the right oil for your car and was more strongly suggestive of types of ways a car could be driven”, the board said the “approach did undermine the importance of driving carefully within the law”.
The board also “considered that the advertisement does encourage the unsafe practice of burnouts or drifting and that this is material contrary to Prevailing Community Standards regarding responsible driving” and consequently the board upheld the complaint.
While Valvoline is seeking an independent review of the decision, it has “out of respect for the Board’s determination” modified the spot.
A complaint to the board regarding the Rexona ad, which ran in a Coles Metro Magazine, said: “The material was delivered as part of the Congratulating Coles for 100 years of service. It was a (Metro) NSW state wide promotional material. The particular page was an advertisement for Rexona anti-perspirant, this was a full page and it had a banner that included that was congratulatory to Coles for 100 years of service.
“Within the advert there were numerous images displaying dangerous behaviour, as this material is aimed at the type of person that would not “see the harm” in the activities portrayed.
It continued: “Extreme or illegal unsafe behaviour: There is an image of a skate boarder skating without the use of any safety equipment I have downloaded content from the Australian Association of National Advertisers and I wish you to refer to this for the final part of my complaint.
“Third point as follows: “A negative depiction of a group of people in society may be found to breach section 2.1 even if humour is used. The depiction will be regarded as negative if a negative impression is created by the imagery and language used in the advertisement” As a cyclist road user I am always abused due to a negative stereotype, although I am well within my rights to have access to the public road system if I do so in a manner that does not contravene any statutory laws. The depiction of the cyclist in the photography shows that they are not in control of their vehicle which is against the law in any country.
“(P.4 of 4) Under the heading –Health and Safety (Section 2.6)- Directly beneath this reads “Images of bike riding without helmets or not wearing a seatbelt will be contrary to prevailing community standards relating to health and safety,,,”
The advertisement as you have probably by now noticed is depicting an image of a female cyclist using a bicycle without wearing a helmet.”
In response to the complaint, the advertiser assured the ASB that “Unilever Australia Limited (Unilever) has ensured that the Advertisement will not be used again and has removed the Images from all future advertising materials and image banks”.
Unilver also recongised the importance of wearing helmets while cycling or skateboarding, saying: “Unilever recognises that wearing helmets while cycling or skateboarding is a matter of strict compliance in Australia and for this reason Unilever has taken the above mentioned action prior to a determination by the Advertising Standards Bureau.
“Whilst Unilever does have in place controls to ensure compliance with our responsibilities under the Code, in this instance, the Images were inadvertently missed through our internal approval process. We are investigating this instance of non-compliance and will also conduct further training with our employees to further improve the internal approval process as well as reinforce understanding of Unilever’s obligations under the Code.”
They concluded: “We note that action has been taken promptly to address the issue raised by the Complaint following you providing us with a copy of your letter to Coles on 7 May 2014. We confirm that we have not received any consumer complaints in relation to Advertisement or the Images.”
While the board “considered that it is not completely possible to determine if the woman is on a road or road related area”, it noted that “community standards are very clear on the issue of health and safety whilst riding a bicycle” and considered that an image of “an adult riding a bicycle without a helmet is a depiction which is in breach of these community standards”.
In its ruling, the board noted the advertisers response and decision to not use the advertisement again and the removal of the image from future advertising materials.
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“While Valvoline is seeking an independent review of the decision, it has “out of respect for the Board’s determination” modified the spot”.. so I guess it’s now just pack shot and a logo. Agency should have known better and the Client needs their head read for being persuaded to sign off on it. Ricky Ponting and John Laws must be looking pretty good right now!
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