BMW get a SLAP from the ASA
An advert for the BMW i3, run on Facebook, has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for making misleading claims about its emissions.
They were on the ball when Jaguar ran an Advertorial in the Guardian which showed how owners could keep in touch in their new car, and leapt in to action when 0.0002% of the Guardian’s readership (that’s two people) complained it was unsafe. The ASA banned the advert.
They were just as vigilant when one (yes, one) Telegraph reader complained that phrases like “for some, the climb to the top is quicker” were encouraging and condoning reckless driving of the BMW 760iL xDrive. They banned the advert.
Now the ASA are back to give BMW another slap, this time for the i3, because an advert running on Facebook earlier this year, and voiced by an i3 owner, was misleading on emissions. It said:
Having driven petrol guzzling cars before, I realised that it is now time to switch to an electric car. With zero emissions, the i3 really is a clean car and helps to give back to the environment.
It seems one (yes, one again) complainant said BMW couldn’t make the statement because not all i3s are EV (there’s a range-extender too) and the viewer wouldn’t know, as BMW didn’t spell it out. The ASA has banned the advert.
Really, is this what the ASA is for? Do they think we’re all so stupid we need this sort of ‘help’?
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