The advertising watchdog has ordered Jaguar Land Rover to stop making speed and acceleration the main message of its ads.
In May, the car maker stated in a tweet: “Fashionably late is out of fashion. Because 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds can look like this. #RangeRoverSportSV” alongside an image of an individual wearing sunglasses in a barren landscape, standing in front of a blurred image of the rear of a car, that had made a dust trail.
Three complaint were lodged, challenging whether the ad was irresponsible because it focused on the vehicle’s speed and acceleration.
In its defence Jaguar Land Rover said the ad’s primary focus was on the style of the brand, rather than the speed of the vehicle.
It said the image had been taken on a closed track on private land and the vehicle had been travelling at 20mph, explaining that the dust cloud was created because the surface of the track was extremely dusty and that it did not believe that cloud indicated the vehicle was travelling at speed.
It added that because the entire background, including the cactus and track surface, was blurred, it did not imply that the vehicle was travelling at speed.
It further explained that the message “fashionably late is out of fashion” was intended to suggest that drivers should avoid being late to avoid speeding and that the text “because 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds can look like this” referred to the look and attitude of the model who looked calm due to having arrived on time.
In its assessment, the ASA upheld the complaints, pointing out that as advertisers must not make speed or acceleration the main message of their ads, Jaguar Land Rover was in breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 19.4 (Motoring).
The ASA said it considered that the blurring of the car implied that it was travelling at speed and that the large dust cloud trail made by the car further added to that impression.
The statement “Fashionably late is out of fashion. Because 0-60mph in 3.6 seconds can look like this” also came under fire.
“We understood that 0-60mph was a prominent metric used as a performance measure for acceleration and considered that reaching this speed in under 4 seconds would be considered fast by consumers,” it said. “We acknowledged Jaguar Land Rover’s comments that the car had been travelling at 20mph when the ad was shot and that their intention was to focus on the model’s demeanour rather than the speed of the car.
“Notwithstanding that, we considered, within the context of the ad and the car travelling at apparent speed in the background, consumers would understand the text to mean that punctuality could be achieved by accelerating quickly. Furthermore, we considered the text, alongside the image of the model, portrayed accelerating quickly as fashionable, and therefore, promoted it in a positive light.
“It said that because the ad suggested that drivers could rapidly accelerate and travel at speed to ensure they would not be late, it concluded that the ad made speed and acceleration the main message of the ad.
ASA warned Jaguar Land Rover that the ad must not appear again in its current form and to ensure their ads did not make speed and acceleration the main message of their ads in future.