Rover Ad Generates Maximum Attention

The banned Rover 600 ‘Hostage’ ad, which prompted 134 complaints to the ITC *Rover Gets A Telling Off, has generated more national press coverage than any other ad for a consumer product in the second quarter of 1997.

The Propeller ‘Ads That Make News’ survey found that the Rover advert had 15 articles written about it, and most of these were in the broadsheets. Martin Loat, managing director of Propellor Marketing Communications, said: “Most of the editorial coverage of the Rover 600 ad was critical, this must have hastened its withdrawal. This is a case where not all publicity is good publicity.”

British Telecom and Tango came second with 13 stories each, followed by Wonderbra advertising with 11 national press stories.

In the run-up to the general election, political ads topped the poll overall. The Conservative Party dominated the survey with 54 stories relating to its ads. The Labour Party faired less well; its ads generated only 16 stories.

National newspapers ran a total of 467 advertising stories in this period, covering a total of 243 campaigns. The Independent topped the poll as the most ad-friendly paper with 106 stories, The Telegraph came second with 60 and The Guardian came third with 54.

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