ASA bans Tom Hiddleston Jaguar ad for irresponsible driving

Jaguar’s latest TV ad – titled The Art of Villainy – has been deemed “irresponsible” by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), and will not be shown again in its current form.

The ad, which features Tom Hiddleston playing a suave villain driving a Jaguar F-Type, raised the issue of whether it encouraged unsafe driving and was therefore socially irresponsible.

Jaguar responded to the complaint by saying that the ad was filmed in such a way to emulate Hollywood film qualities, and that while filming, although no specific speed was shown, the police were present during the scene and the speed limit was not exceeded.

The British car manufacturer added that the brief moment of acceleration shown was not excessive and was not the main message of the ad.

While the ASA agreed that speed was not the primary focus of the ad, the advertising watchdog said that the noise of acceleration and speed at which the car appears to go at certain points during the video – notably after Hiddleston says “Now brace yourselves” – implied irresponsible driving.

“Whilst on-screen text stated ‘Professional driver. Closed course. Always obey speed limits’, we considered the overall impression consumers would take from those scenes was of a car being driven on a public road (with other cars present) at speed and that the on-screen text would not negate that impression,” the ASA said.

“Whilst we acknowledged the sequences were brief, we considered that the second part of the ad suggested that the car was being driven at excessive speeds and that the ad therefore encouraged irresponsible driving.”

In addition to banning the video, the ASA warned Jaguar not to portray speed or driving behaviour that might encourage motorists to drive irresponsibly in future.