Nissan drops ad following Peckham row

Nissan has withdrawn a press ad for its Terrano II off-the-road car which poked fun at Peckham, in London, after receiving a complaint from the local council.

Southwark Council complained that the ad, which carried the catchline: “Built to tackle the most inhospitable places on earth. Including Peckham”, portrayed the town as an “urban jungle”.

Southwark’s town centre manager for Peckham, David Stephens, has written a letter to Nissan claiming the ad portrayed “a Peckham of decay, barbed wire, and no-go grass areas” that was “shamefully out of date”.

The letter, which was sent to Nissan UK managing director Brian Carolin, stated the ad was a “copywriter’s cliché” and that Peckham had been “dogged by its past reputation for far too long”.

A Southwark spokeswoman also claims the ad was irresponsible and damaging to Peckham’s business community.

The execution, which appeared in several newspapers including The Times and Evening Standard, was created by TBWA GGT Simons Palmer.

The Advertising Standards Authority is investigating two complaints about the ads from Peckham residents.

A Nissan spokeswoman says: “It was not our intention to offend anybody in Peckham.”