Twix advert banned for encouraging dangerous driving

Sky News

a day ago

A Twix chocolate advert has been banned for encouraging unsafe driving, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled.
The advert, called Two Is More Than One and shown on both TV and Video on Demand, shows a man driving a car while being followed, before putting the hand brake on, swerving to the right-hand side of the road and breaking through a metal barrier.
A man is seen inside the car falling down a rocky hill, before the vehicle is then shown upside down but placed on top of an identical car at the bottom of the hill.
Five complaints that the adverts encouraged dangerous driving and were irresponsible were made to the ASA.
Mars Wrigley Confectionery - who own Twix - argued the advert "was set in a separate world that was absurd, fantastical and removed from reality," and said they made sure the acts depicted "would be impossible to recreate".
But while the ASA acknowledged the ad contained "some clearly fantastical elements," it upheld the complaints and ruled the ads "must not appear again in their current form".
"We considered the road was clearly realistic," it wrote in its ruling, before adding: "The scenes were depicted as a chase with the emphasis on speed. In addition, the first man was then shown putting the handbrake on and the car swerved off the road leaving visible skid marks.
"We considered the emphasis on a chase, and the speed inherent to that, and the driving manoeuvres featured would be dangerous and irresponsible if emulated in real life on a public highway."
Another ruling from the ASA also banned a Diesel clothing advert that featured model Katie Price.
That ad - a paid-for spot on the Guardian news website that ran on 26 March 2025 - featured an image of Price wearing a bikini and holding a handbag in front of her chest.
It drew 13 complaints, with some believing it objectified and sexualised women, challenging whether it was offensive, harmful and irresponsible.
Others challenged whether the ad was irresponsible as Ms Price appeared "unhealthily thin".
While Diesel argued "the image was a celebration of Ms Price's sexuality and empowerment" and noted it was part of a wider campaign, the ASA upheld the first complaint.
It said that the positioning of the handbag in the ad "had the effect of emphasising and drawing attention to her breasts," and therefore "sexualised her in a way that objectified her" and was "likely to cause serious offence".
The ASA did not find that the ad depicted Ms Price in a way "to make her appear unhealthily thin".