Who hasn’t seen that
Aviva TV ad featuring ex-Formula One driver David Coulthard? If you haven’t, you won’t get to see it on TV at all as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled “the ad must not appear again.”
Even with Clearcast approval, the ASA found that the ad – as well as versions of it – breached rule 20.1 of the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising, or the BCAP Code. Part of the rule says, “Advertisements must not condone or encourage dangerous, competitive, inconsiderate, or irresponsible driving or motorcycling.”
The ad, which was promoting the “Aviva Drive” app, was intended to convey the message that safer motorists should be rewarded instead of paying for other people’s bad driving. It included text warning viewers not to recreate the stunts performed by Coulthard as part of an extreme driving experiment in which he disguised as a taxi driver.
“Clearcast believed that the hidden camera show parody, along with the over the top, stylised driving and prominent warnings, all contributed to the narrative that the driving behaviour depicted in the ads was being discouraged and condemned,” noted the ASA.
However, the regulator cited scenes which it believes showed that the content primarily focused on the car’s high speed and stunts. The ASA said this “consequently overshadowed the ‘warning’ and ‘experiment’ on-screen texts that appeared at the start of the ad along with the ad’s underlying message that safe drivers could benefit from a saving with Aviva’s car insurance.”
It added: “Furthermore, the manner in which the car was driven was extremely reckless given it was performed in a regular vehicle and on public roads while showing other vehicles to be in motion, with scenes that could potentially be emulated by viewers, putting themselves and others at a significant risk of danger by driving hazardously and in an irresponsible manner.”
From the ASA’s perspective, Aviva’s ad encouraged dangerous and irresponsible driving. A total of 58 complaints had reached the regulator since the ad’s first airing in January.
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