Earlier this year, Jaguar released its first-ever Super Bowl commercial showing us the evil side of Britain and why it’s “good to be bad,” but the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency thinks that Jaguar may have gotten a little too bad in its most recent video. Titled “The Art of Villainy” starring Tom Hiddleston, the ASA has banned this particular spot for “encouraging irresponsible driving.”
Like previous advertisements in this current campaign, which total six so far, Hiddleston spends the first part of the two-and-half-minute video describing what makes a great villain, which of course relates to the F-Type Coupe. Toward the end of the video is where the ASA really takes issue with the commercial.
Inside the parking garage, the F-Type Coupe appears to speed away from another car, but The Hollywood Reporter says that Jaguar insists the car “barely moved” during these scenes. According to the ASA, this scene “appeared to suggest significant speed within an enclosed environment.” This despite the fact that the scene has the standard “Professional driver. Closed course. Always obey speed limits.” caution easily visible along the bottom of the screen
The watchdog agency is even more displeased about the scenes shot on the public streets it felt suggested a significant increase of speed as Hiddleston accelerates away from a parking garage in a manner that looks like he is driving fast and says “now brace yourselves” while doing so. Jaguar says that the speed limit was never exceeded and police escorts were present while filming.
For this latter portion of the video, the ASA said: “We considered that the second part of the ad suggested that the car was being driven at excessive speeds and that the ad therefore encouraged irresponsible driving. The ad must not appear again in its current form.”
Even though Brits won't be able to watch the full commercial on TV, we can all see the spot in its entirety on YouTube.
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