Car ads depicting "unsafe" driving banned in Canada
 

Via the Globe and Mail...

Canada's advertising industry's self-regulating body has decreed that ads showing reckless driving are not acceptable.

http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.c...301023gm-a.jpg
(from an Audi A6 ad)

The body's goal was to...

Part of the actual guideline:

wow, advertisers exercising self control, I feel a little dizzy, gotta sit...

...how about applying the SAME "governance" to political entities????

Whatta buncha candy***es! :mad:

I know many have trouble differentiating between fiction and reality, but come on!

I remember back in the day, when Ford began importing their big European performance car, the XR4Ti. I got hold of a promo tape... and darn near fell asleep watching it.

Here's this car where they brag about the Euro suspension, power, prowess, etc., etc., plodding around neighborhood streets at 5 mph. Whoa- color me impressed! :rolleyes:

I wrote back to them and ripped 'em a new one. I swear these marketing guys are dumber than stumps.

16 yr old in his daddy's BMW talking to cop
kid - "What is the problem officer?"
cop - "You ran a red light back at the intersection..."
Kid - cutting him off- " well sir this IS a BMW - didn't you see the commercial?"

so let me summerize...

Heavy Metal Music will cause me to kill my dog
Rap Music will cause me to shoot up a Liquor Store
GTA3 will cause me to beat up hookers and steal thier $
and Car Commercials will cause me to drive carelessly.

One reason I found this story interesting is because it made me wonder if they'll also target greenwashing in auto ads.

Can't stand ads that hawk "clean" diesels, "sustainable zoom-zoom", or "zero emission" electrics or hydrogen vehicles. Each of those qualifiers requires a sizeable * asterisk to explain what they mean. None can stand on their own, but they're always put out there without qualification.

They cracked down on auto greenwashing in Norway, where

Source: In Norway, No Car Is “Green” — Carectomy - Removing Cars from People

They are, in fact, rather cravenly doing what their political masters have "asked":

"The new measures were sparked by legislation in Quebec banning such ads..."

I am not in favor of reckless driving, but I do not see any reason to trash the right of freedom of speech to obtain a little extra safety on the roadways.

Quebec doesn't rule Canada, read on:

"..., and a growing number of complaints across the country from consumers who believe such advertisements act as inducements to poor behaviour on the roads."

Unfortunately...:D

Here, I'd say most people do not have the same relation with "freedom" some people in the states seem to have. In fact I'd say that from most of the rights the Framers gave you. We feel we have all the rights we need to the extend we accept as a society, and we make individual sacrifices for the greater good of the society.

But anyway, I think the ban on those ads is a good thing.

Keep reading:

"'Governments, both federal and provincial, have identified speed as an issue, and safety concerns in advertising,' noted David Adams, president of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada, which represents importers."

The point that this decision is being taken in response to actual and implicit threats of government action stands.

You could ban all advertisements as far as I am concerned :)

This is mostly true, although I think most Americans would argue that the Framers did not "give" us rights. The U.S. Constitution assumes that power and rights reside in the people, and certain powers have been granted to the government. If memory serves, the various British North America Acts/Constitution Act begin with the assumption that power originates in the crown, and that powers and rights are granted thereby to the Provinces and the people. That is a big philosophical difference.

Which isn't to bash the Canadian system of government - obviously it works - but I think it is also why Americans, as a whole, are generally less compromising on the trade off of individual rights vs collective safety than Canadians are.

Until americans can demonstrate the ability to act in a responsable manner in the first place, I am going to have to lean ever so slightly to the direction of accepting this type of limitation on advertisements.

In an era of personal responsability and self-awareness of oneself and the actions one takes, I would be 100% against this. but my faith in the bulk average of americans has been shaken by events over the last several months. To many people fail to "Don't believe everything you hear" and "don't try this at home" basic common sence.

...there will always be idiots.

...likewise there will always be idiotic laws.

...which were mandated by idiots.

...because, most governments rule by simple majority (here, simple is a euphamism for idiot)


...does this (above) mean I'm anti-government? Hell no, just anti-idiots where more chlorine is obviously needed in the "gene pool"!

Why don't you just go ahead and ban action shows for depicting the same thing?

Or how about banning comedic politically incorrect ads for promoting politically incorrectness?

Or ban any television or movie that shows jaywalking? Most of them do.

Why don't we ban alcohol/beer commercials for promoting drinking?

Or ban McDonald ads for promoting eating unhealthy foods?

Guys, I'm sorry. That is lame. People have to learn responsibility, and if you round off every corner they're not going to know what to do when they find a sharp one.

Stopping car commercials from showing 'unsafe' driving will do nothing to stop unsafe driving. Teaching the drivers themselves to be responsible will.

Look, commercials suck, these aren't individuals here who are being supressed, it is large influential companies who take your money and use it to figure out how to get more of your money, and shape public opinion with commercials and other campaigns.

What is the glitch here, I just don't get the corporate sycophant point of view I guess. I don't think only consumers should get a say in what all of society is subjected to.