One Pathetic Complaint Got This Amazing Audi R8 Advert Banned
It’s rare to hear any engine noise on a car advert in the UK, so to have a 5.2-litre V10 wailing amidst all the crap about pay day loans and esoteric perfume commercials was very welcome indeed. It was all thanks to Audi’s ‘The Eye’ advert, featuring the second-generation R8, but sadly, it’s just been banned. Why? Because one person complained to the Advertising Standards Authority.
As we explained before when Honda’s ‘Keep Up’ advert was banned, the amount of complaints doesn’t really matter: if something which breaches the strict ‘Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Code’ is brought to the ASA’s attention, it gets the ban hammer out. And in the case of ‘The Eye’, the ASA upheld a complaint that alleged the advert “linked speed with excitement”.
In the ASA’s ruling, the organisation stated:
“Audi said they disagreed that the ad linked speed with excitement or that it was irresponsible. They said the ad was not about speed and was carefully shot (with cars travelling at speeds of less than 30 mph) and edited to avoid giving any impression of speed. Consequently, if the ad had shown excitement, it would not be linked with speed. However, Audi said the ad did not show excitement, as the dilating and contracting pupil denoted concentration and focus, which was a documented scientific phenomenon.”
The ASA disagreed with VW Group/Audi’s response, stating that: “The ad breached BCAP Code rules 1.2 (Social responsibility) and 20.3 (Rules for motoring advertisements),” the problem being that “several upward changes of gear could be heard and we considered that, without clear visual context…it was likely to be interpreted by viewers as quick acceleration.”
As a result, all that lovely V10 noise - packaged up in a slick, clever advert - has been removed from our screens. So, a hearty “thanks bro” goes out to nannying advertising regulations, and whoever had enough time on their hands to complain about an advert that really wasn’t irresponsible.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
This isn’t allowed to be shown but people were fine with that weird one where the R8 gave birth? People are strange.
Well speed or rather accelleration IS linked with excitement, I dont see the problem ;)
It’s a thought police at it’s finest. Welcome to the 1984 in 2016
It makes me so sad that i’m surrounded by these kinds morons… (I’m a college student)
Looks like a French non-petrolhead complain about this ad to me. We have a lot of people like this in France :(
In America Dodge has commercials full of muscle cars doing burnouts. I wonder what the ASA would say about that?
Looks like a Prius got triggered.
Laughs in American
That to me linked exhaust note with excitement, and to be honest, MY pupils would have been wide open THROUGHOUT the tunnel!
I think there should be a sign at all tunnel entrances stating “select lower gear now” just to raise the revs a bit…
Meanwhile in America, we have comercials where the r8 does doughnuts till it forms the Audi logo, r8’s racing in the desert, etc