ASA Upholds More Car Ad Complaints

The Advertising Standards Authority has followed the ITC’s recent lead by criticising car advertisers which sell their products by focusing on speed and acceleration.

A number of complaints were received by the ASA regarding press and poster ads for Audi and Volvo cars. Objections, including one from the Department of Transport, to a poster for an Audi Cabriolet which claimed “0 to 60 in 9.3 seconds” and featured a photograph which looked as though it had been taken by a police speed-trap camera, were upheld, with the ASA asking the advertiser to be “more responsible in future.”

There were also complaints about the national press campaign for Volvo which showed a stopwatch, a rocket, a sprinter and a fireball behind the car with the words “overtaking is a simple undertaking…simply put your foot down.” The ASA again upheld these complaints, saying the ad should be withdrawn because speed was made the predominant message of the campaign.

ASA: 0171 580 5555