A Nissan ad featuring a couple racing to a hospital just to see how long it takes them, has been okayed by the advertising watchdog at the third time of asking.
Earlier versions of the ad for the Nissan Pulsar were twice banned by the Advertising Standards Board because they suggested unsafe driving.
The first version was banned because it featured the apparently pregnant female passenger – revealed at the end to be wearing a fake bump – urging the driver to go faster.
But after Nissan put out a re-edited version, with the woman’s words removed, and a lower engine noise, the ad was banned again because it also featured the car racing close behind another vehicle and the man talking about beating his personal best.
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As a result, Nissan put out a third edit of the ad with the beep of the stopwatch and the man saying “personal best” removed.
However, the new version also drew complaints from the public.
One complaint to the ASB about the third version stated: “The ad is antisocial and supports inconsiderate and dangerous driving. I see from your complaints page this has been supposedly dealt with and has neither been modified or withdrawn. I have seen this ad on numerous occasions and can’t see any improvement. My complaint is that it makes braking the law appealing it shows speeding down narrow lanes.”
But the ASB ruled: “The Board noted that in this second modified version of the advertisement the man does not comment on the time but says that they will be able to get to the hospital easily if ever they needed to. The Board considered that this depiction is not suggestive of the driver trying to beat any previous times nor a suggestion of extreme speed.
It added: “Whilst it is morally questionable as to whether using a fake pregnancy in order to drive to the hospital and park in a premium spot outside it is acceptable, the couple are shown to return immediately to their vehicle which indicates they are leaving.”
The ad was made by Whybin\TBWA\Melbourne.