Motoring

The advertisement was seen as an outdoor poster and featured an image of a Land Rover Defender SUV driving out of the sea and onto rocks.

The complainant considered that the advertisement showed a negative disregard to the environment, regardless of purpose.

The advertisers explained that the advertisement was supplied by Jaguar Land Rover’s global marketing team and advertising agency for use in multiple markets. They said that here in Ireland, they did not alter the image in any way, but that the artwork was simply resized for local advertising formats.

The advertisers conferred with the Jaguar Land Rover Global Team who responded to the complaint and confirmed that Jaguar Land Rover Ireland (an independent importer into the market) did not modify or edit the asset at all. They expressed disappointment that anyone would take issue with the advertisement and said that they took careful steps to ensure that the advertising was responsible and factually correct. The advertisers said they believed that this was the sole complaint raised globally in relation to this issue.

The advertisers confirmed that as an overall assurance, the location was assessed to ensure no harm was done to the physical site nor to its environment. They explained that all permits were fully in place with any owners and local authority, and full post-shoots checks were made to verify that no harm or trace was left. They clarified that the still image was taken from a much wider campaign which included the ‘fantasy’ island of ‘Above and Beyond’, populated by many Defender SUVs shown in dramatically created situations, but performing driving tasks entirely within the capabilities of the advertised vehicle.

The advertisers said that the location was a popular, fully tidal beach, with permission for vehicle use and that it was used for boat launches. They said that while it was closed for the shoot, it was normally highly populated with beach-goers in and out of the water, with a wide range of water craft. The advertisers explained that as a tidal location, even with the very shallow path shown for the Defender, this was scoured by the tide every 12.5 hours. They said that the brand-new vehicle was checked to ensure that there was no leak of any fluids nor loose material and that the location was checked over fully afterwards to verify that no damage or contamination of any sort had taken place.

The advertisers said that the water could be seen to be about half the height of the rear wheel, which was around some 40cm at most, when the vehicle was capable of wading in water some 90cm deep. They said that as the vehicle was in breaking surf, any track in the sand would have been scoured away instantly.

The advertisers explained that the ‘crawl’ up the rock effect was achieved by the standard production specification of the vehicle with no external equipment or assistance and that despite the attitude shown of the vehicle, it was nowhere near the outer limits of climb or transit angles for responsible driving. They said that as could be seen in the image, the rocks themselves were quite recent artificially introduced flood/storm protection measures and neither native nor habitat for any surface-dwelling organisms. They advertisers added that the jetty protected by the rocks was visibly artificial, relatively new concrete and used routinely for motor and marine traffic/launches and services.

The advertisers wished to firmly assert that given all the precautions taken, the responsible selection, use and care of the location, and the factually correct and rational driving displayed, there was nothing irresponsibly displayed or encouraged within the advertisement. They said that the use of a motor vehicle in that location was permitted and not unusual, in common with many such beach locations and that while shown in splendid isolation for the shoot, the beach was normally populous and very active. The advertisers said that there was no risk of harm to the environment, and the crawl and exit were onto artificially introduced rocks and concrete.

Complaint Not Upheld.

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.

The Committee noted that the location for the shoot was a fully tidal beach with permission for vehicle use and that it was used for boat launches. They noted that the depiction of the rock crawl took place on artificial rocks and a jetty which was routinely used for motor and marine traffic/launches and services and that such locations were recognised as being used for these purposes. The Committee also acknowledged that the vehicle was depicted performing within its capabilities. In addition, they noted the steps taken in assessing both the shooting location and vehicle to ensure that no harm was done to the physical site nor to its environment.

In light of the above, the Complaints Committee considered that care for the environment was taken into consideration before and during the shooting process and that the vehicle was only depicted on landscape that was routinely used by other traffic.

Taking all the factors into account, the Committee therefore did not consider that the advertisement breached the Code on the issue raised in the complaint.

ACTION REQUIRED:
No further action required.