Commercial showing teenagers driving deemed too offensive

[monaroCountry]

McDonald's ad made a meal of driving safety

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/12/01/mcdonaldsad_wideweb__470x328,0.jpg


Christine Sams
December 2, 2007

A McDONALD'S advertisement showing a carload of male teenagers ordering a drive-through meal is off the air after an investigation by an industry watchdog.

The advertisement, which shows a P-plater who drives his friends to the fast food restaurant after getting his licence, will not be screened again following claims it promoted unsafe driving.

After airing between November 4 and 12 it was investigated by the Advertising Standards Bureau.

"I think it was one of the most complained about for the month,"Advertising Standards Bureau chief executive officer Fiona Jolly said.

"The complaints made about this ad were that it depicted young boys driving in a manner that wasn't safe. The board noted that a carload of kids in the middle of the day isn't illegal but the board felt that the depiction of the kids really was contrary to all the public safety messages that are out there at the moment to young men on safe driving and safe behaviour in cars. They really felt that this was an ad that did breach the code."

A McDonald's spokeswoman said it was a short-run campaign, with the advertisement only scheduled to screen between those dates in November.

But it will never air again because of the ruling. McDonald's voluntarily follows the code of ethics set by the standards bureau.

In NSW it is illegal for P-platers to carry more than one peer-aged passenger between 11pm and 5am. The McDonald's campaign shows the carload of teenage boys in daylight, but the complaints flowed in to the Advertising Standards Bureau.

"We are killing more people every year on our roads yet McDonald's is promoting having fun behind the wheel, regardless if you can drive with any degree of real experience and confidence. It is just sending the absolute wrong message to our youth," wrote one complainant.

Another said: "I am appalled … I feel this ad should never have been allowed to go to air."

In defence of its advertisement, McDonald's filed a written submission that detailed its research for the campaign. "We also deliberately included a scene within the commercial where the mother voices 'Be careful' to her son upon handing her keys to him," said the McDonald's submission.

The Advertising Standards Bureau ruled the advertisement breached Section 2.6 of the Advertisers Code, because it contradicted prevailing community standards of health and safety.

[The_Canuck]

:rolleyes:

[henk4]

anything promoting McDonalds should be banned

[bruxell]

An open letter to the "Advertising Standards Bureau."

Dear Sirs-
Shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UPSHHHUUUUTTT UUUUUUUPPPP!!!!!

Please make a not of it, you s@%&t-storms...

-B

[fisetdavid26]

Ridiculous.

[Matra et Alpine]

OMFG :(
So "promoting fun" is considered bad ?
How about promoting crass capitalism and evil food ? :)

[The_Canuck]

And absolutrly useless organizations with nothing better to do...

[baddabang]

Thats funny. Back in my day 2 permits made a license.

[Quiggs]

Anything that encourages eating McDonald's should be banned. Ick.

[2ndclasscitizen]

I say ban it. Not because of the bad driving, just because it's a ****ing horrible ad. Absolutely and utterly shit.

[Quiggs]

^ Clarity, in an otherwise insane world.

[zeppelin]

Oh my dear God no, fun behind the wheel!? What a terrible thing to even think of, I hope they sentence the commercials makers to deaTH!!!1! :mad::mad:

But seriously, I can't even express my thoughts on the censored, babied, nanny state of today's society without resorting to a long-winded rant full of swearing and anger. Do people seriously get offended this easily, and over analyze to this degree? How damn bored can you be? Seriously, people should learn how to raise their own children and stop canceling everything containing remote traces of potentially offensive material. I want to drive all over these people's front lawns, unlicensed, in a powerful car with a sign that says "Death to Children" on the roof.

/rant

[Zytek_Fan]

I love all the overreacting and political correctness in this day and age... :rolleyes:

Prime example: The banning of Santa's in Sydney from saying "Ho, ho, ho!" at the airport to travelers, because it is American slang for wh0re. Honestly, who cares? It's a Christmas thing. Common sense people!

[MadMax13]

I understand where they are coming from but its just ridiculous...

[kingofthering]

Y'know, there was a Corvette commercial that was banned because some kid was dreaming about driving it and was driving it in a fantasy. Apparently that made some future Darwin candidate want to try that.

Or that woman who bitched about how the Honda Accord/Toyota Camry commercials encouraged dangerous driving to teenagers.

[MadMax13]

People that do nothing but spend their life looking for shit to bitch about on the tele...

[bruxell]

I understand where they are coming from but its just ridiculous...

I too understand where they are coming from, from a place of total sef-importance, where beureucrats make up laws and regulations all day long that solve only problem thought up by themselves. A place where making political hay, and advancing one's own career at the expence of the personal freedoms of the masses is business as usuall, and where seeking grants and donations with which to line one's pockets is the only reason for making regulations...

I only wish that more cars full of teenagers, when they do get into accidents, would run over self-important safety-crats...

[NSXType-R]

anything promoting McDonalds should be banned


Anything that encourages eating McDonald's should be banned. Ick.

Agreed.

[crisis]

Old people care about kids dying in car crashes. While I don’t support over censorship I don’t care that McDonalds has to withdraw this. It is probably a crappy add (I haven’t seen it ) and the world is a no worse palace for its removal. All the same I can’t see what impact it will have on the road toll.

[MadMax13]

Just another thick as shit group ranting on about a facade, like the "if we vaccinate against HPV it will encourage girls to become promiscuous" bunch...

[NSXType-R]

By the way, is the original commercial on YouTube or something?

[IBrake4Rainbows]

You don't want to see it. seriously.

to summarise:

Kid gets license. Borrows mums car, picks up mates, goes to Mcd's drivethrough, flicks pickle on back right window.

tagline - "Whats your favourite Macca's moment?"

Stupid branding, stupid product, retarded ad. it's not as if people were making the pinky at him or anything.

[clutch-monkey]

another one in my case for "90% of the general public, and most government and bueracratic organisations, can be considered clinically retarded and have no knowledge on anything they actually make rulings about"
refer to darwin speed limits, half of the P plate restrictions, and handgun restrictions for further proof

[Sledgehammer]

Clearly they missed this commercial.

YouTube - Trans Am Mountain Dew Commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjABBKR4dkw)

yeh its old but still a great commercial

[kingofthering]

If they consider that to be terrible in Australia, I'm curious to see what isn't banned there.

Knife commercials? might promote stabbing
car commercials? promotes reckless driving
buying McDonalds w/ friends? I can't see how that promotes illegal behavior, unless McDonalds = weed in Australian slang and the whole thing could be interpreted as a drug reference.

[clutch-monkey]

If they consider that to be terrible in Australia, I'm curious to see what isn't banned there.
the problem is the only people who complain about it and numerous other issues are the ones that get their views catered to, and these are usually the minority comprising of mouth-breathing 'think of the children' dumbasses with nothing better to do than write complaint letter to TV stations, newspapers and whatever beuracratic organisation that fits their liking. i.e. self-involved housewives and people with literally NO BRAIN. i'm serious, i'm not making this up.

Knife commercials? might promote stabbing
car commercials? promotes reckless driving
knife catalogues are all you need... no need to have it on TV to offend the sensibilities of the masses :rolleyes:
as for car commercials, i think they have some declaration in place where the car can't be shown undertaking performance driving or 'hoon' behaviour. to get around this mitsubishi simply depicted the new lancer in a videogame as part fo the ad :D


buying McDonalds w/ friends? I can't see how that promotes illegal behavior, unless McDonalds = weed in Australian slang and the whole thing could be interpreted as a drug reference.
my god, their drug peddling ring has been right in front of me all this time and i never noticed!! :eek: :D

[Zytek_Fan]

This is kinda like the violence in video games leads to violent children. Both are absolute BS :cool:

[Wouter Melissen]

anything promoting McDonalds should be banned

Why? This great establishment has provided high quality food to so many of us.

[henk4]

Why? This great establishment has provided high quality food to so many of us.

who subsequently have to run their ass off to loose weight...

[MadMax13]

If i remember right someone bitched about a Porsche commercial of a kid fantasizing about driving the new Carrera. He was running through the mountains and all that fun and they said it was promoting dangerous driving as well...

[Turbo.Jenkens]

I am dumbfounded. If a group of teenagers driving to a restaurant is so dangerous that it cannot be depicted on TV, why not raise the legal driving age? It wouldn't bother me a bit, and while they're at it require a 3 week driving course and make licenses cost $1000. This would cut down on CO2 emissions, gas usage, and traffic fatalities. Win, win, win.

[roosterjuicer]

advertising standards bureau sounds like yet another waste of taxpayers dollars.

there shouldn't even be a bureau that regulates advertising, let the freakin market regulate itself.

GRRRR all this overregulation is pissing me off.:mad:

[bruxell]

Clearly they missed this commercial.

YouTube - Trans Am Mountain Dew Commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjABBKR4dkw)

yeh its old but still a great commercial

That's a classic!:D And being a whole 9 years old, nobody at the time said a word...

[The_Canuck]

who subsequently have to run their ass off to loose weight...

Nobody forces you to eat there though.

[zeppelin]

who subsequently have to run their ass off to loose weight...

I manage to fit McDonald's into an otherwise active, and moderately healthy dieting lifestyle.

It's those who have it regularly, as primary sustenance, that have issues. Nothing beats McDee's after a good night out at the club/bar though.

[Quiggs]

I manage to fit McDonald's into an otherwise active, and moderately healthy dieting lifestyle.

It's those who have it regularly, as primary sustenance, that have issues. Nothing beats McDee's after a good night out at the club/bar though.

There is no food greater at 1am than that of the fine dining establishment known as "Taco Bell." Two chicken taquitos and a steak Grande Quesadilla to go please.

[whiteballz]

Pah!, you guys need to be introduced to the humble beef/chicken kebab after being on the liquid. (though you may need that much grease after drinking that stuff you americans call beer) :p

[2ndclasscitizen]

advertising standards bureau sounds like yet another waste of taxpayers dollars.

there shouldn't even be a bureau that regulates advertising, let the freakin market regulate itself.

GRRRR all this overregulation is pissing me off.:mad:

The Advertising standards bureau is necessary as they set and review commercial classifications and address actual breaches of the classifications code, but unfortunately are often stuck answering the complaints of hysterical idiots with nothing better to do. I'm looking you Scruby you ****ing idiot.

[crisis]

I manage to fit McDonald's into an otherwise active, and moderately healthy dieting lifestyle.

It's those who have it regularly, as primary sustenance, that have issues. Nothing beats McDee's after a good night out at the club/bar though.

I lost 20 kg by changing from having that, Hungry Jacks (Burger King) and KFC three times a week to having it around three times a year. Plus a bit of bike riding!
I was hooked on Maccas, now of the three I could honestly never have it again and not care.

[henk4]

Nobody forces you to eat there though.

I was referring to the current activities of our webmaster:)

[roosterjuicer]

I'm looking you Scruby you ****ing idiot.

what does that mean? was that directed towards me?

[Fuerte100]

I am dumbfounded. If a group of teenagers driving to a restaurant is so dangerous that it cannot be depicted on TV, why not raise the legal driving age? It wouldn't bother me a bit, and while they're at it require a 3 week driving course and make licenses cost $1000. This would cut down on CO2 emissions, gas usage, and traffic fatalities. Win, win, win.

Wouldn't bother YOU. :mad:

[Cotterik]

anyone got a link to youtube or something where I can watch it?

[SlickHolden]

Yep and bloody agree shocking ad shocking!..

For starters the kid cant park a car or drive to be honest and he just got his P's:eek: That kid needs more lessons not a trip to Mcdickheads! as he's first drive.

[Blue Supra]

Clearly they missed this commercial.

YouTube - Trans Am Mountain Dew Commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjABBKR4dkw)

yeh its old but still a great commercial

Can i just say... THATS AWESOME!!!

and it would be banned within abour 3 seconds of being aired here, like the ad wouldnt have even finished before being banned. :(

[MRR]

promoting having fun behind the wheel, ... It is just sending the absolute wrong message to our youth," wrote one complainant.


You can have fun behind the wheel of a car!?!? Oh nooz God forbid :rolleyes:

[Rockefella]

Can i just say... THATS AWESOME!!!

and it would be banned within abour 3 seconds of being aired here, like the ad wouldnt have even finished before being banned. :(

I remember seeing that ad on tv a few years back. That ad was the shit.