A complaint of unsafe driving in a Toyota television advertisement, which features driving below the speed limit, has been dismissed by Australia's advertising complaints handling body Ad Standards.
The commercial depicts a number of scenes of people with their Toyota vehicles, including:
A woman picking up a friend who has had a fake tan, putting a towel down to protect the passenger seat. A man driving at 40km an hour down a road being overtaken by other cars, then parking and removing a small speck of dirt from the front of the vehicle. A man being stopped by a neighbour enquiring about his new car.
The complaint submitted to Ad Standards said:
"The marketing seems to glorify driving at extremely slow speeds on public television. Driving at slow speeds on public roads can be very dangerous.
"The ad shows a vehicle driving at 40kph on a rural road and another vehicle overtaking it, implying that the vehicle is driving significantly below the speed limit. This appears to be promoting unsafe driving (significantly below the speed limit) in order to save a vehicle's resale value."
In response Toyota defended the ad as the company believe it does not show unsafe driving. Rather, Toyota believes the ad depicts drivers going to great lengths to be safe and cautious, as if the drivers ‘feel’ as though they are driving brand new second-hand vehicles.
Toyota said: "The scene deliberately emphasises the slowness of the driver’s speed by showing another car overtaking (not at great speed) – as a filmic way to depict utmost caution in unusual circumstances, akin to taking a new car home for the first time.
"The slow driving depicted in the Advertisement is portrayed as unusual and only associated with the ‘new car feel’. The farmer’s usual driver behaviour could be assumed to be closer to the speed limit due to the presence of mud stains on the other vehicles."
The panel agreed with Toyota and found the ad to not depict unsafe driving or menacing driving. And dismissed the complaint.
Overall, the panel considered that the driver appears to be in control of the vehicle, and is not driving so slowly that he is being unsafe or putting other drivers at risk.
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