Monkey, fruit stall draw ad watchdog investigations

MONKEYS driving trade vans and a bright-coloured car trapped in a dull world have both escaped the advertising standards watchdog despite drawing complaints from viewers.

Hyundai’s TV ad for its i40 mid-size sedan drew ire after it depicted a coffee-swilling chimpanzee driving a van erratically, a hyena on a motorcycle weaving around traffic, and finally pallets falling off a truck driven by a bull-headed human.

The ad closes with the words “they’re out there”, referring to drivers that are not as cautious behind the wheel as the couple in the i40.

According to the complaint filed with the Advertising Standards Bureau, the ad objectified animals.

“It encourages use of metaphorical language to describe offensive behaviour utilising animals ... such ad (sic) "what an ape", " crazy like a wolf", it is insulting to animals,” the complaint read.

“And although may not be offensive to many people I find it discriminatory in nature and in attitude toward animals and people alike.

“Not to mention the fact that most animals do not have the ability to drive, and I would not hesitate to say that absolutely no non-human animal has a licence to drive, thus it is showing illegal activity during the course of an advertisement.” According to Hyundai, the scenes depicting animals driving the vehicles were brief, and ended with the vehicle being driven in a safe manner.

“Further, the depiction of nonhumans driving somewhat erratically is not intended to endorse such driving, but in fact the opposite,” Hyundai said.

“The advertisement uses this fantasy device to point out an important reality, namely, that erratic driving should not be encouraged but nevertheless unpredictable drivers exist on our roads.” The ad standards watchdog dismissed the complaint, ruling that the ad did not discriminate against either humans or animals.

Holden, meanwhile, fell foul of the Advertising Standards Bureau for showing a TV ad featuring a bright red Malibu mid-size sedan driving through a monochromatic landscape, with the tagline “Your mid-size escape”.

The complaint relates to the depiction of a cyclist, who crashes his bike into a vegetable stall on the side of the road after seeing the Malibu.

“The ad shows the car travelling dangerously close to a cyclist, causing the cyclist to crash,” the complaint filed with the bureau said.

“The car drives on and then hides from police. This shows illegal actions from the driver, in that he contributed to an accident, failed to stop and render assistance (leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal act), then proceeds to hide from police (another offence).

“In my opinion this ad goes well beyond harmless fun, particularly in a society where there are already drivers who consider cyclists fair sport,” it said.

In response, Holden said the ad was a parody using humour to tell a story about the Malibu, which is depicted driving through “Beigeville”, a fictional town where everything was boring and beige.

According to Holden, when the cyclist turns to see the Malibu driving at a distance behind him, “he is so shocked and distracted by its colour and distinction that he loses concentration and comically cycles off the road and into a fruit stand”.

“The Holden Malibu did not cause the bike rider to crash and the advertisement contains no “reckless or menacing driving” ...,” Holden said.

“In the advertisement the Holden Malibu is never shown to be driving close to the cyclist. In fact, the only time the Malibu is shown driving near to the cyclist is after the cyclist crashes into the fruit stand.

“Further, on no reasonable view can the Holden Malibu be said to have ‘pushed the cyclist off the road’.” The ad watchdog agreed with Holden, saying the time between the cyclist seeing the car, riding into the fruit stand and then standing in awe as the car swerved safely around the spilled fruit meant the Malibu was not at fault for causing the crash.

It said the ad did not suggest that the couple in the Malibu had hidden from police after the accident, and that they were instead hiding from the bland police who were shown patrolling the streets at the start of the ad.

The Advertising Standards Bureau dismissed the complaints.

The ASB has the power to investigate complaints that are in breach of a voluntary advertising code of conduct established by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which represents the car-makers in Australia.