AUSTRALIA: Honda withdraws 'grossly insensitive' TV commercial
By just-auto.com editorial team | 17 September 2003
AAP reports that Honda Australia has withdrawn a television commercial amid criticism it was grossly insensitive and traded on the image of suicide.
The TV ad, for the new Honda Accord, shows the owner of an old model admiring a new version. In response the old model locks the doors, revs the engine and speeds off the end of a cliff.
AAP said that the Australian national depression initiative, beyondblue (beyondblue) said the company had demonstrated gross insensitivity to the major Australian health issue of suicide.
"One in five people experience depression in their life and depression is a major risk factor for suicide," said Professor Ian Hickie, beyondblue clinical adviser, in comments reported by the AAP.
"Depression and suicide are major health issues for all Australians and it is not unreasonable to expect large companies that operate in this country to respect our attempts to reduce their impact here," he added.
But Honda Australia director Lindsay Smalley said the ad was not intended to offend and was seen as a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun. "While we were satisfied the ad would create a great deal of interest and desire for the Accord, at no time was there any intention to cause anyone in the community distress," Mr Smalley said in a statement.
Companies: Honda
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17 Sep 2003 -Currently reading -
AUSTRALIA: Honda withdraws 'grossly insensitive' TV commercial
There are currently 3 comments on this article
Yeah, sad, the Aussies do some cracking TV ads but there's always some hand-wringing PC bleeding heart moaning that someone has been grossly offended. Bureucrats are the worst. In the '80s Toyota NZ ran a great series of ads for the Hilux showing legendary local bushman/poet/author Barry Crump scaring the you-know-what out of a 'townie' (played by a well known TV actor) with death-defying feats through the bush in his new ute. The next one in the series showed the townie getting his revenge in Wellington scaring the bushman just as silly in the city traffic. Of course, for added effect, the ad makers used a buses-only tunnel, well known to locals, for the finale and the local, traffic chief screamed blue murder, claiming the ad would encourage the locals to risk a wrong-way run through the one-way tunnel as a short-cut. They'd already been doing that for years but Toyota reluctantly pulled the ad, anyway, as Honda has done in Oz. Don't ya long for the old days when people had a sense of humour?
Graeme Roberts said at 4:22 pm, September 25, 2003
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