Please login to continue
Adnews offers non-subscribers free access to one story per month.
TRAGEDY BRINGS VW AD CONTROVERSY TO HEAD
By Adnews Staff
Volkswagen Canada is keeping a controversial French TV campaign for its Golf GTI model on the road in Quebec, despite calls from critics to park the commercials. Those against the ads say they encourage speeding. The issue came to a head last week when four teens died in the crash of a Golf near Deux-Montagnes, north of Montreal. Police say speeding might have been a factor in the accident. The father of the dead boy who was driving the Golf has called for the spots to be pulled. A VW spokesman says it is pure coincidence that the death vehicle was a red Golf and there is no link between the ads and the accident. Created by PALM Publicité Marketing of Montreal, the TV commercials are scheduled to run for another two or three weeks. They use the slogan "Tasse-toi mon oncle" which translates into something like "Move over, old man." When the campaign broke last spring using the slogan for television, billboards and newspapers, the provincial auto insurance association laid a complaint with the Canadian Advertising Foundation's Advertising Standards Council. The slogan was changed for billboards and print but was kept on television. The Advertising Standards Council reasoned that the slogan lacked context on billboards and in newspaper ads, but the television spots were taking an obviously humorous approach to get across the point the car is very reliable.
Related stories
