'Are you VXR enough?' is OK

Vauxhall ad escapes nannyish intervention

Vauxhall Astra VXR

You may have noticed Vauxhall's ads for the Astra VXR under the banner "Are you VXR enough?".

Well, that was enough for some saddos to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority that the reference to the power and acceleration of the car encouraged speeding.

However, in a surprising ruling, the ASA did not uphold the complaint. Here's the full ruling:

Vauxhall said the ad complained about was run in error in two publications, appearing once in each; the ad should have included a headline that said "VXRed Blooded". They said the predominant message of the ad was that the Astra VXR was a high performance vehicle; it was not about speed or acceleration. Vauxhall said the shot of the car under the walls of the Colesium was intended to reflect that the car was quite muscular looking and to give it a gladiatorial image. They said the statistics about the power of the car were quoted to reinforce this image and pointed out that the CAP Code allowed advertisers to give general information about a vehicle's performance. Vauxhall said the text which likened the car to a chariot made a connection between the car and another type of vehicle that was challenging but fun to drive. They believed there was nothing in the ad that encouraged or condoned irresponsible driving or anti-social behaviour.

The ASA noted the ad had appeared without the intended headline "VXRed Blooded". We noted, although the ad created an association with a chariot, the car was stationary and it did not directly link the performance statistics mentioned with speeding or irresponsible driving. We considered that the overall impression of both the ad that had appeared and the intended ad was that of a robustly built car. We considered that readers would not see the main theme of the ad as that of power or speed. We considered that it did not encourage irresponsible or dangerous driving.