BMW ad banned for promoting unsafe driving
A BMW video of one its cars speeding and sliding around a racetrack has been banned for encouraging unsafe driving on the roads.
http://bcove.me/hvautnax
The racetrack shots of the BMW M4 were spliced with the car being driven on the road. It concluded with both racetrack and road cars stopping in matching on-screen positions against very similar backgrounds before alternating between each driver exiting the car.
BMW acknowledged the editing blurred the distinction between track and road but said the intercuts clearly showed the appropriate manner to drive the car in both settings. It added that the road driver was shown as “calm and in control” and the exclusion of the engine noise meant design not speed was the ad’s main focus.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled the ad must not appear again in its current form. Future ads must not link racetrack and road driving styles in a way that promotes speed or irresponsible driving, it added.
