Mars Wrigley has had its wrist slapped by the Advertising Standards Authority over a Twix ad, which “encouraged” dangerous driving.
The advert in question, which aired on TV and video-on-demand in March, shows a man driving a car being followed by a second car.
In the ad, the man being followed speeds up, put his hand brake on, swerves to the right-hand side of the road and breaks through a metal barrier, leaving the road in a cloud of dust.
His car is shown tumbling down a hill before landing upside down on an identical car, containing an identical man. Attached, both cars drive off together, as the caption: ‘Two is more than one Twix’ appears on screen.
Five complainants believed the ad encouraged dangerous driving and was irresponsible.
Mars Wrigley said the ad had a cinematic presentation and was set in a separate world that was absurd, fantastical and removed from reality.
The ASA acknowledged that the ad contained some clearly fantastical elements in the latter part of the ad and had a cinematic feel overall.
‘Dangerous and irresponsible’
However, it considered the emphasis on the chase at the beginning of the ad, and the speed inherent to that.
It also considered that the driving manoeuvres featured would be dangerous and irresponsible if emulated in real life on a public highway.
“Because we considered the driving depicted in the ads condoned unsafe driving, that appeared likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code, we concluded the ads were irresponsible,” it said, ruling that the ads must not appear again in their current form.
A spokeswoman for Mars Wrigley told The Grocer: “We always take pride in maintaining high standards across all our communications and every advert we produce is submitted for approval through the appropriate review channels.
“In our view, this particular advert adopts a fantastical tone that is neither realistic nor intended to be imitated.
“Nonetheless, we take our responsibility as an advertiser seriously and never intended to cause any offence or concern, so we are reviewing the ruling carefully in order to work collaboratively towards a resolution.”
An ‘overzealous’ ruling
Speaking on the ruling, Geraint Lloyd-Taylor partner and co-head of advertising & marketing at law firm Lewis Silkin said: “There are times when Clearcast, the body responsible for approving TV ads, and the ASA, the body responsible for investigating complaints, disagree, even though they are both meant to interpret the same set of rules.
“Neither is right or wrong, as such, and advertisers take a gamble when depicting any scenario where people are shown driving in a way that isn’t consistent with the Highway Code, even when that happens in another country, and even if it’s really the sound-effects and narrative that gives the impression of speed.
“In this case, the cars don’t actually look to be going very fast. I accept there is some kind of chase going on but the ad is very cinematic and fantastical, and I would say on balance it is hardly likely to inspire motorists on British roads to emulate what is shown.
“I would therefore tend to side with Clearcast on this one, and say the ASA has been overzealous in interpreting the rules,” Lloyd-Taylor concluded.
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