Mitsubishi slams Mail for scrapping its ads

Mitsubishi Motors has hit out at the Daily Mail for refusing to carry a series of pricing ads which knock other car manufacturers.

The Daily Mail took exception to five ads which specifically criticised rival car models. Included in these were the lines: “You could buy an Astra Envoy, but why spend years in therapy?”, “You could buy a Renault Megane if you’ve got more money than sense” and “Face it Ford, at £10,995 you don’t even come close”.

These ads, created by Cardiff agency Golley Slater, are running in other titles, including The Times and The Daily Telegraph.

Mitsubishi general manager of marketing Philip Price says: “I cannot understand why the Mail, which we use regularly for advertising, is out of step with other publications.”

The Daily Mail’s advertisement director John Teal says: “We thought the copy was detrimental to some of our contractual advertisers and asked Mitsubishi to change it.”

He claims the agency sent a replacement ad which ran once and was then pulled at the client’s request because it did not fit in with its marketing strategy.

In the past few months Mitsubishi has pitted itself against other car companies. In December it reduced its prices by £1,000 claiming that it was in favour of harmonising car prices with the rest of Europe.

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