Toyota and agency The&Partnership have been ticked off by the UK’s ASA for ads featuring SUVs as a herd of roaming animals, stampeding from the countryside to the city (paraphrasing a bit here.)
The ASA agreed that the ads showed the cars in a “manner that disregarded their impact on nature and the environment.” Toyota said the ad was aimed at farmers and the like who needed all-terrain vehicles – although the guy in the ad doesn’t look much like a farmer.
That’s bad enough but, these days, single issue groups are inclined to latch on to any such infractions and two such, Adfree Cities and Badvertising along with other climate, anti-pollution and safety groups, are planning to demonstrate today (22 November 22) outside the The&Partnership’s London’s office.
Havas faced a similar demonstration when it took on oil giant Shell’s media business last month.
So we’ll presumably have T&P CEO Sarah Golding nervously surveying Gresse Street like Davy Crockett at the Alamo while T&P founder/chairman Johnny Hornby assembles the cavalry down in Sussex to ride to her rescue.
Not so funny old world if you’re an agency..
All the public seem to want to do nowadays is complain about something. All thanks to social medya turning everyone into a keyboard warrior in the same way everyone’s a photographer of film director now because they have a phone.