Toyota GT86 TV Advert BANNED

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a TV advert for the Toyota GT86 because it encouraged motorists to drive irresponsibly.

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Back in August we reported that there was a new TV advert for the Toyota GT86 that showed Toyota’s new drivers car being driven round a virtual cityscape in a bid to find the real world and and escape from Orwellian constraints. Decent enough advert, and entirely CGI.

But it seems the advert would “encourage motorists to drive irresponsibly” and “…was irresponsible and condoned dangerous driving”. Or at least it would according to the ASA, which made the ruling after being inundated with complaints about Toyota encouraging drivers to speed and be reckless.

In truth, there were two complaints  Yes, just two. Despite the advert being widely seen (including over 2 million times on YouTube) the ASA thought it a valuable use of their time to investigate the complaints and uphold them.

The conclusion of the daft ruling said:

We also considered that the highly stylised nature of the ad glamorised the reckless manner in which the car was driven. Because we considered the ad portrayed speed, and the way the car could be handled in a manner that might encourage motorists to drive irresponsibly, we concluded that the ad was irresponsible and condoned dangerous driving.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 19.1, 19.2 and 19.3 (Motoring).

So consider yourself officially too stupid to recognise the difference between a completely virtual CGI advert and the real world.

Now, where do we complain about the PPI adverts on TV?

Note: You can view the whole ASA ruling on the GT86 Advert here, and we’ve posted the sanitised version of the advert below. If you’re in the UK you can no longer view the full advert online (unless you know how to use a US proxy – nudge, nudge).