A Twix advert has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for encouraging hazardous driving. Viewers complained that the ad was promoting unsafe driving, following which the ASA decided to ban it.
The ad, called Two is More Than One, features a high-speed car race across the UK channels, and the car chase ends in a crash. The video is shown both on TV and on video-on-demand. The video shows a man driving a car while being followed, and before putting the hand brake on, curving to the right-hand side of the road, and immediately breaking through a metal barrier.
In the video, the man is seen inside the car and falls down a rocky hill. The vehicle is shown upside down and placed on top of another identical car at the bottom of the hill. Two caramel-colored cars stacked like a Twix bar in that television ad.
The viewers made five complaints regarding the ad, claiming that the dangerous commercial ad encourages unsafe driving. The owner of Twix, Mars Wrigley, defended the ad, and he explained the Twix ad as a cinematic presentation. He also added that the ad was set in such a world that was absurd, fantastical, and removed from reality.
The confectionery company argues that the Twix ad was split into two parts. The authority said that they had removed identifiers of the real world from the road scenes, including road signage, pedestrians, vehicles, etc.
Clearcast, the non-governmental organisation that approves adverts, also echoes the argument. However, ASA ruled the ad and banned its appearance in its current form again on television.
The ASA acknowledged the fantastical appearance of the advert, saying that the first part of the video showed driving that seemed to violate the legal requirements of the Highway Code. The ASA also added that there is an emphasis on speed in the car chase and showed visible skid marks left on the road.
The ASA said that the driving operations would be dangerous and irresponsible to try in real life. The ASA reminded the owner of the Twix company that the Twix advert should not encourage irresponsible driving.
