Lexus LC ad outlawed for promoting ‘illegal’ and ‘dangerous’ activity
The ad watchdog has banned a Lexus advertisement promoting its LC 500 model for depicting “illegal” and “dangerous” road behaviours including speeding and rapid acceleration.
The original ad which has since been banned
The complaint noted the advertisement “was all about the power and speed of the vehicle” and “it had no regard to the fact that speed and motor vehicles kills people”.
“This ads total disregard for road rules and encouragement the speed [sic] is a bad example for young driver,” the complaint said.
Responding to the complaint Lexus said the aim of the ad was to “bring to life” the feeling of driving a Lexus LC 500 and the scenes were shot using specific camera techniques to “create the visceral feeling” for its audience.
Lexus said they would modify the television spot to slow down the scenes which have been viewed as too fast, and replace the scene which shows the speedometer increasing and wheels turning quickly.
The Ad Standards Board noted one scene in the ad showing the vehicle stirring up dust and dirt behind it, insinuating it is travelling fast.
A minority of the Board said speed was part of an approach to make the vehicle seem tougher and not indicative of excess speeds.
However, the majority of the Board said “the overall tone of the advertisement was of power and speed and that the speed the vehicle was travelling was too fast for the roads it was driving along”.
Lexus responded to the upheld complaint noting the ads had been modified.
The modified version of the ad
Abigail Dawson was Mumbrella's senior content journalist covering event content. She left Mumbrella to move into an agency role in 2020.
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First they crashed the Ferrari that was the agency.
Now this.
Next Mr Confidence will drive off a cliff.
One can only hope…
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What a pathetic comment…
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The ad watchdog is the most conservative, social justice warrior, nanny state body that exists in Australia. I am getting sick and tired of non-issues that are just part of every day life being taken down because they happen to be in an ad. Is really is quite sad and a complete joke.
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Firstly when was “behavior” allowed to have a plural? And secondly if they ban this ad, then Top Gear is buggered!
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I agree with Matt
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… and of course (my error) it should be “Behaviour” …
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David, many etymologists consider ‘behaviour’ to be a countable noun.
For example, “the zoologists were allowed into the enclosures in the zoo to more closely study the behaviours of the animals”. It is pluralised here so as to confirm that not all animals behave the same way, therefore there are multiple behaviours.
But don’t get me started on “Firstly”. Is it first, or something that is ‘like first’.
Also, the phrase “it had no regard to the fact that speed and motor vehicles kills people” is very poorly worded. That’s odd, because I’ve driven a race car at 170 km/h. Apparently I was killed.
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The original (now banned) ad was better. It was harmless fun and causal link to road deaths seems pretty fanciful with me.
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So…..
* Young people are going to be rushing out to buy this $200K car…?!
* Rapidly accelerating from 78 to 87 kph in a straight line on asphalt rd is dangerous…? None of would countenance, let alone attempt that when accelerating from a 70 zone to a 90 or 100 zone…?!
* the ASB is now going to ban all those ute and 4WD ads, the majority of which have dust, mud or stones – sometimes all of those – being kicked up…?1
The car is pitched against BMW Ms, Merc. AMGs and the like, all of which anyone interested in performance cars [which they all are, and which all accelerate very fast, which they’re designed to safely do], is and are about acceleration, safe speed [highest inbuilt safety standards], handling performance
Speed alone doesn’t kill. In the majority of cases, speed is just a contributing factor, because when you get almost-instantly stopped by something at above 60 kph, it tends to cause physical damage to driver and passenger
ASB: needs to be restrained and made to take a balanced look at its subjects and itself
LEXUS: stand up for yourself Kow-tow like that, and you’ll soon be having the authorities banning speeding in films, Block movies, etc.
The ad. I’ve seen a number of times From the first, I thought it was beaut to involve a viewer in a halo performance car that way. Still do. Well done to the creative and production crew, the Lexus marketing people!
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The original (now banned) ad was better. It was harmless fun and causal link to road deaths seems pretty fanciful to me.
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That’s funny. I have driven race cars at 240Kph + and am still alive too. Maybe we should apply for a Govt grant to investigate why. Over 5 years research at least needed I reckon …
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With the original ad, the only thing I was offended by was the string of cliches used to describe the car’s performance. Frankly, I expected more from Mr Patterson.
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