Twix advert banned after watchdog says it breached Highway Code

Wales Online

a day ago

Twix advert banned after watchdog says it breached Highway Code
The ASA says the advert must not be shown again
The advert for Twix was shown earlier this year
An advert for Twix xhoxolate bars has been banned after the Advertising Standards Authority decided it was dangerous. The ruling comes after five complaints over the advert shown on TV.
The ad aired in March this year showed a man driving a car, being followed by a second car. The man sped up, put the hand brake on, swerved to the right-hand side of the road and broke through a metal barrier, leaving the road in a cloud of dust. The man was then shown inside the car falling down a rocky hill.
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The second car stopped at the point where the first car left the road, with the broken barrier and dust still visible. The first car was then shown upside down but placed on top of an identical car at the bottom of the hill. The same man was in both cars, one upside down, the second upright. The man in the car below looked up through the sunroof at the man above. As the first man grasped the gear stick, a second hand was shown from above placing it on his hand. The car was then put in gear and drove off with the second car attached above it.
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Both cars, attached, drove along a road with on-screen text that said, 'TWO IS MORE THAN ONE TWIX'.
Five complainants believed that ad encouraged dangerous driving and was irresponsible.
The ASA said the advert was dangerous
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Mars Wrigley Confectionery UK Ltd (Mars Wrigley) said the ad had a cinematic presentation and was set in a separate world that was absurd, fantastical and removed from reality.
They claimed the ad was split into two parts. The first part had a good versus bad theme, reminiscent of classic films. The cars were shot driving at lawful speeds and any emulation would only reflect the legal and safe driving presented. They said they had removed identifiers of the real world from the road scenes, including vehicles, pedestrians, or road signage, to distance the setting from reality.
The second part of the ad, a dual car performing a stunt that defied physics, depicted a scenario that was clearly exaggerated and not possible in reality. The surreal moment highlighted that the scene was clearly fictional and tongue in cheek. That was further emphasised by scenes of two hands operating a gear shift, a hand break turn that was not possible in real life and the man shown calmly driving off a cliff. They made sure the action was clearly in a fantasy world and would be impossible to recreate.
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They said Twix was further known for its playful and absurd tone and the humour in the ad reflected that and aligned with the slogan 'Two is More Than One'. That slogan also featured at the end of the ad and reinforced the irreverent humour of the ad. The slogan when taken literally was inherently comical and aligned with the fantastical tone of the rest of the ad.
The ASA said the rules stated that ads must not condone or encourage irresponsible driving or a breach of the legal requirements of the Highway Code.
A spokesman said: "The ASA acknowledged that the ad contained some clearly fantastical elements in the latter part of the ad and had a cinematic feel overall.
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"However, at the start of the ad the driver was shown on an ordinary road, when a car approached behind him. We considered the road was clearly realistic, albeit in an isolated and exotic location, with lane dividers visible and both cars ensuring they stayed on one side of the road, replicating real life."
They added: "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. Because we considered the driving depicted in the ads condoned unsafe driving, that appeared likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code, we concluded the ads were irresponsible."
The spokesman said: "The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Mars Wrigley Confectionery UK Ltd not to condone or encourage irresponsible driving that was likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code in their ads."