Ultra Tune’s Jean Claude Van Damme ad banned for depiction of violence towards women
The ad watchdog has upheld a complaint about Ultra Tune’s ‘menacing’ and ‘violent’ ad starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
The Advertising Standards Community Panel – the recently rebranded Ad Standards Board – said the happy resolution at the end of the ad was not enough to mitigate the earlier violence, and also weighed up the impact of the ad at a time when community concerns about gang violence in Melbourne is escalating.
The watchdog had previously dismissed complaints about the shorter television commercial. The social media iteration of the campaign (above), however, was longer and depicted a gang member smashing up a car in a dark alley as the stranded women look on.
The complaint, which was submitted by Mumbrella’s founder and content director Tim Burrowes, said: “This ad portrays violence and threatening behaviour towards women, with a gang member smashing their car headlight with a baseball bat… I am submitting this complaint because I am curious why it is still available online, despite what seems to be an obvious breach of the guidelines”.
The complaint noted the board had considered complaints against the shorter edits of the ad, but said this extended edit “[portrays] a much more threatening situation for women than the version previously adjudicated upon”.
In response to the investigation, Ultra Tune said the ad “contains no acts of violence nor portrays violence”.
Despite denying the violence, the brand said if there was any, it could be “justified in the context that the advertisement builds tension for dramatic impact and contracts with the gang’s ultimately benign intentions”.
A majority of the panel members considering the complaint, however, thought this iteration of the ad was considerably more menacing, and could not be justified by the unlikely outcome of Van Damme showing up to save the day.
“The majority considered that the happy resolution at the end was not enough to mitigate the violence. The majority of the Board considered while this level of violence may be relevant to the action movie theme of the advertisement, the level of violence was not justified in the context of an advertisement for road-side assistance,” the decision said.
“In the Board’s view, the advertisement did portray violence that was unjustifiable in the context of the service advertised and did breach Section 2.3 of the Code.”
The Board also considered the depiction of ethnic minorities and gangs, noting there is increased community concern due to news about gang violence in Melbourne.
Referring to its previous ruling on the ad, the Board said: “The Board considered that the advertisement did not suggest that ethnic minorities would or should form gangs and that overall the advertisement did not depict any material which suggested that people from any particular ethnic background would behave in a manner which is negative or inappropriate. Overall the Board considered that the advertisements did not portray or depict material in a way which discriminates against or vilifies a person or section of the community on account of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age, sexual preference, religion, disability, mental illness or political belief.”
As such, the board found the Ultra Tune ad did not breach Section 2.1 of the code, relating to the discrimination or vilification of race.
Ultra Tune said it was modifying the ad in response to the ruling.
Take out the couple of shots of the car being smashed and it would be fine. It would still be an appallingly bad spot, a complete waste of time, money and human potential. But fine.
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Tim, I wonder, would seek to ban an ad that depicted violence against men?
Oh wait, no I don’t. Of course you wouldn’t.
Btw, it only depicts violence against a car.
And members of a minority being threatening against women. If only they were white men, then we could all agree what an important ad this was. Even better, a kick-ass woman would come and save the day, cause all action heroes are women, didn’t you know?
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Correct decision to ban this piece of shite. It clearly shows violent intimidation towards defenceless individuals by a gang. That violence is then accepted by the resolution of the drama.
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Site search (if not google) can be your friend sometimes: https://mumbrella.com.au/menacing-threatening-ad-condemned-ad-watchdog-using-domestic-violence-men-sell-hearing-aids-452371
(I’m guessing you were referring to mumbrella covering such stories, since your enquiry was addressed to Tim and not the author, Vivienne?)
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All I see is another TVC promoting a business using a celebrity and a story. No more no less. Nanny state and over regulated PC strikes again.
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Should have been banned simply for being soooo bad!
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I wonder what the franchisees think? They have their compulsory marketing contributions blown in this way. Terrible brand work, terrible communication, not even a decent CTA.
The Agency and marketing team should be banned!
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This will do nothing to reduce gang violence and violence against women. Do they really think this would help? Unbelievable.
This is why comedians, bands and other entertainers don’t bother coming here.
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Which agency is behind the long run of appalling Ultra Tune ads- can you get them on to explain their target market (blue collar and working class white males?) and if the complaints are boosting online ad views? Whole campaign seems to just work on featuring faded 80s action stars, plastic women in leather and occasionally, actual cars and mechanics.
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