Ad "irresponsible" for mentioning speed

Standards authority upholds complaint against performance car ad

By PH Staff / Wednesday, 13 October 2004 / Loading comments

The world just took another turn for the worst with the upholding by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of a complaint about a car ad. The ASA said it was irresponsible because speed was its predominant message.

According to the ASA, an ad for the Mitsubishi Evo VIII featured two photographs of a car painted in red. One was headlined "SCARY..."; the other, featuring the same model in police livery, was headlined "...VERY SCARY".

Text beneath the first photograph stated "The New Mitsubishi Evolution VIII is possibly everything you've ever wanted in a rally-bred sports saloon. Raw power and sleek curves, speed, poise and awesome ground-covering ability take driving to another level. If it's power you're after, the Mitsubishi Evolution VIII range is fine tuned to provide up to 340bhp, and 0-60 in just 4.4 seconds to set the pulse racing."

The complainant believed the ad was "irresponsible, because he believed the advertisement's emphasis on speed and the implication of police endorsement were likely to encourage dangerous driving", and because it looked like an endorsement by the police.

More here.