Euro Car Parts advert cleared after controversy
Following complaints that the advert promoted reckless driving, the Advertising Standards Authority decided to take no action
A Euro Car Parts TV advert has been cleared by a watchdog after stirring up complaints that it promoted reckless and dangerous driving.
In the advert a woman could be seen driving up a country lane and adjusting the volume on her radio before braking sharply to avoid hitting some sheep in the road.
The woman states: “I was planning a long journey at the weekend to see the family, so Stuart at the local garage serviced my car. I didn’t have a lot of time but he insisted I change my brake pads.
“So thanks to Stewart I could stop fast too. Because he called Euro Car Parts, I was still on my way fast, and to me that makes him my hero.”
The idea of the advert was to showcase the braking power of her car and that it was down to Euro Car Parts supplying her new brakes, that saved her from the accident with the sheep.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received six complaints after it was aired last November, and launched an investigation.
Euro Car Parts responded by stating that it was not dangerous as the car did not exceed the speed limit, and there were no other vehicles or people around.
The emergency stop was more to do with the sheep possibly being in a blind spot and nothing to do with the radio adjustment of the radio volume.
It added that it “Does not condone dangerous, reckless or irresponsible driving” and the overall message of the ad was to emphasise its fast and efficient service.
ASA said today that no action would be taken as the advert did not breach any advertising codes, nor did they find the driving dangerous.
In a statement, it said: “The ASA do not consider that the speed of the car in the ad appeared to be excessive for the driving conditions – an empty road on a clear dry day – and we understood that it did not exceed 40mph.”
It also felt that viewers would understand from the advert that the female driving the car was able to stop safely because she had had new brakes fitted and that it didn’t consider it showed reckless driving.
By Aidan Rennie-Jones
