Twix joins list of ads banned from Irish and UK TV

Extra.ie​

11-06-2025

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) caused quite a stir this week for their move to pull a 70s-themed advertisement for chocolate bar, Twix, due to the alleged promotion of 'unsafe driving.'
The advertisement was released in March of this year but has since been banned by the ASA following five complaints that the footage 'condoned unsafe driving.'
The commercial sees two cars involved in a car chase with the man in the first car putting the foot down in order to get away from the car chasing him. The advertisement was released in March of this year but has since been banned by the ASA following five complaints that the footage 'condoned unsafe driving.' Pic: Twix
The man then takes a sharp turn which leads the vehicle to come off the side of the road and overturn a number of times before ending up overturned on top of an identical car, similar to the two bars in a Twix.
The ASA acknowledged that there were 'fantastical elements' in the ad but upheld the complaints and ruled the advertisement could not appear in its current form again.
Agencies such as the ASA and the ASAI (Avertising Standards Authority of Ireland) work to regulate TV commercials within their countries. View this post on Instagram
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Following the latest banned advertisement, Extra.ie take a look at five more advertisements that have been pulled across Irish and/or British TV.
In 2023, the ASAI banned a piggybank commercial which had been created for Bank of Ireland due to the idea that the ad 'normalised the illegal and environmentally corrupt practice of backyard burning.'
The television ad promoted Bank of Ireland's Big Move initiative to help consumers switch banks with ease, following the withdrawal of two banks from the market.
The objected scene showed a man and a woman standing over a burning barrel, with the narrator saying: 'Break-ups are always a bit messy.'
The woman, holding a money jar in the shape of a hippo then says: 'They gave me this when we first met' – before throwing the jar into the burning barrel.
Despite the bank highlighting that no materials were 'actually fully burnt,' the ASAI complaints committee found that apart from limited circumstances, the backyard burning of waste was illegal and subject to prosecution, therefore the ad was banned.
Going back to 2017, the commercials watchdog pulled a cinema advertisement for car brand Nissan due to the depiction of bullying and gender sterotypes.
The two and a half minute video sees a young boy, who does errands for an elderly neighbour, beaten up by a group of older boys every time he does the errands for the elderly lady.
The bullying continues throughout the years, with the youngster becoming more and more withdrawn as a result. Meanwhile, his little sister decides to join a martial arts class and is eventually able to step into defend her brother.
No violence is shown throughout the ad, however, the young boy is seen with cuts and bruises on a number of occassions.
Following the finale where the sister defends her brother, the siblings transform into cars.
The ad was banned when the ASAI ruled that the message was 'that violence could be used to revolve issues and that it was an appropriate response to bullying.' Pic: Youtube
Period product Tampax' Tampax and Tea advertisement was banned in Ireland in 2020 with the ASAI committee ruling that it 'should not run in the same format again,' due to being offensive.
With almost 100 complaints made to the watchdog, complainants found the advertisement offensive, crude and vulgar.
The advertisement came in the from of a fake talk show with the host asking her guest and audience members if they can feel their tampon before telling them that they shouldn't and explaining it might not be inserted properly.
'Ya gotta get it up there girls!' the host then exclaims.
Despite the ASAI noting that the ad had provided 'factual information in a manner that was neither explicit nor graphic,' it was banned from Irish TV.
Beer brand Heineken have had Formula 1 star Max Verstappen on board as an ambassador in recent months, with the promotion of their 0.0 beer and campaign: 'The best driver is the one who is not drinking.'
While many will be familiar with the TV advertisement, the Dutch company were left with no choice but to remove the advertisement on social media due to failure in meeting advertising standards.
The paid social media advert saw the Verstappen holding a bottle of the non-alcoholic alternative and the slogan: 'The best driver is the one who is not drinking.'
Unfortunately, the standard alcohol Heineken logo was on the bottom of the photograph, instead of the alcohol free logo with the UK watchdog ruling that there wasn't 'sufficiently prominent statement of the product's abv.'
They said: 'The only reference in the ad to abv was the label on the bottle of Heineken 0.0 beer held by Max Verstappen. However, the bottle was relatively small, especially comparing the text on the label to the image of Max Verstappen, who was the focus of the ad.
'We therefore did not consider that was a sufficiently prominent statement of the product's abv.'
Ahead of the Six Nations in 2012, the BBC pulled their promotional trailer due to fears of it would be perceived as being anti-English.
The minute-long ad sees a number of groups from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy of people beaming as they shout, 'England' in what one might think was the groups cheering the team on.
A caption then reads: 'The Six Nations. It's not about who you want to win… It's about who you want to lose.'
The video then cuts to a group of English supporters who are divided in who they want to see losing the tournament.