News: Banned by a single complaint – Jaguar advertisement ‘irresponsible and condoned dangerous driving’

IT TOOK just one complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to lead to a ban being slapped on an expensively produced advert from Jaguar.

A series of four online video adverts showed the range of Jaguar models driving on public roads accompanied by the roar of their engines. The British car manufacturer – whose slogan is ‘It’s good to be bad’ – argued that the ads were designed to emphasise the technical features and abilities of its cars, using post-production graphics, and added that a caption had mistakenly been missed off the films, reading: “Filmed on closed roads with a professional driver. Do no attempt. Always obey local speed limits.”

The films were shot on closed roads in Switzerland. However, the ASA ruled that Jaguar could not show any of the four videos again in their current form: ‘Because we considered that speed was the main message of the ads and the ads portrayed the cars being driven in a dangerous manner, we concluded the ads were irresponsible and condoned dangerous driving.’