The UK Banned a Toyota Truck Ad for Promoting Off-Road Driving
It’s the latest in a series of environmentally focused rulings by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, which has also nixed ads from Lufthansa, HSBC and Unilever.
Toyota’s Hilux advert seen at a bus stop in Bristol, UK.
Courtesy of Adfree Cities
Two advertisements that show an army of trucks careening through the wilderness have been banned by a UK regulator for encouraging drivers to behave in ways that could damage the environment.
In a video advertisement for the Toyota Hilux that was promoted on Facebook, dozens of trucks are shown driving through rivers, forest and open land, while a voiceover describes the scene as “one of nature’s true spectacles.” A poster version used at bus stops in the UK shows the trucks alongside the slogan “Born to roam.” Neither ad can be shown in the country going forward after a decision by the Advertising Standards Authority, which said they “presented and condoned the use of vehicles in a manner that disregarded their impact on nature and the environment.”