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In the latest breach of the advertising code of conduct, Toyota has been forced to pull a GR Yaris ad from air as car brands continue run afoul of standards.
Toyota’s recent GR Yaris advertisement has been pulled from the air, marking the 25th time an advertiser in the ‘vehicle’ category has been found to have breached advertising standards on free-to-air television since 2014.
Vehicle ads lead for the most frequent breachers of advertising codes on free-to-air television, averaging 2.1 breaches per year over the last 12 years, with the latest being Toyota's third violation.
This places vehicles well above the entertainment (1.5 breaches per year) and gambling categories (1.4 breaches per year) in average violations per year since 2014.
Breaches of the Advertising Codes on Free to Air TV
Toyota’s GR Yaris ad is reminiscent of a Ken Block Gymkhana video, but with a more fantastical take. A Toyota GR Yaris drives, drifts, and leaps through the dusty outback, before finishing its high-speed escapades in a Melbourne industrial port.
The ad features its' racing-gear-clad driver navigating surreal scenarios, like a take-away burger shop accessible only via a steep jump, and an obstacle course of numerous boom gates opening and closing seemingly at random.
All the while, ‘Hertz’ by Melbourne rock band Amyl and The Sniffers backtracks the action.
The ad's final tagline is ‘Nice To Know It Could’ as the GR Yaris slides into frame to rest beside the GR86 and GR Corolla.
The ad was found to have breached the FCAI (Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries) Motor Vehicle Advertising Code due to depicting unsafe driving.
Toyota issued a detailed response to the complaint, arguing that it had not breached the standard.
“The advertisement purposefully establishes a narrative connection between the vehicle and its ‘motor sport’ origins by dressing the driver in racing apparel to deliberately identify them as a professional rally car driver,” Toyota stated in their response.
“The driver proceeds to operate the vehicle with the control and skill of a professional rally car driver within fantastical contexts to demonstrate and prove the vehicle’s technical capabilities in connection to its motorsport based design, but does not suggest or promote consumers can, or should, drive in a similar way.”
Toyota also noted that at no time did the driver lose control of the vehicle, or exceed any speed limits, despite “the exciting atmosphere created by the tempo of the background music”.
The FCAI code has allowances for advertisers to display scenes akin to professional motorsport driving in vehicle advertisements. However, this allowance has certain stipulations, some of which include that the car must appear to be taking part in organised motor sport, vehicle testing, or proving.
However, the Ad Standards Community Panel’s assessment noted “the vehicle was not depicted in racing livery or anything that limited the context to motor sport or vehicle testing or proving”.
The panel asserted that the ad created an ‘aspirational link’ to the ‘unsafe’ driving shown in the advertisement.
Some form of the ad appeared, or was intended to appear, on TV, BVOD, SVOD, cinema, digital, out-of-home, and social media, according to HERO, the creative agency behind the ad.
As a result of the Ad Standards Community Panel's decision, Toyota discontinued the advertisement.
This is not the first time a GR Yaris ad has fallen afoul of standards. A 2021 GR Yaris ad was pulled from TV after a complaint about a depiction of speed.
The ad is just one of the latest Toyota Australia efforts to promote its Gazoo Racing (GR) performance brand.
The original complaint, Toyota’s full response, and the panel's finding can be read here.
A Toyota Australia spokesperson told Drive: “Toyota Australia acknowledges the decision made by Ad Standards. The current GR Yaris advertisement has been discontinued while we make the necessary adjustments.”
Max is the News Publishing Coordinator for Drive. He enjoys creating engaging digital content, including videos, podcasts, interactive maps, and graphs. Prior to Drive, he studied at Monash University and gained experience working for various publications. He grew up playing Burnout 3: Takedown on the PS2 and was disappointed when real life car races didn’t have the same physics.
