Advertising is a hard gig. Constantly having to drum up quirky and creative ways to market the same old products must be tough. Car commercials are some of the worst, don't you think? But this one by Hyundai's agency Innocean is the ultimate tasteless enterprise.
In fact, it is advertising sinking to new lows. The scene actually involves a man staging a suicide in his garage: it's all taped-up windows and fumes feeding into the car. Then there's the rub: the actor doesn't die because Hyundai's emissions are so clean. Get it, get it?
No points for sensitivity or ingenuity. Innocean execs were so busy being clever, they obviously never spared a thought for those who might have lost people in this very scenario. For Holly Brockwell the ad proved too much to bear. It dredged up memories that had no place being invoked by a stupid car commercial.
"I understand better than most people the need to do something newsworthy, something talkable, even something outrageous to get those all-important viewing figures," wrote Brockwell. "What I don’t understand is why a group of strangers have just brought me to tears in order to sell me a car. Why I had to be reminded of the awful moment I knew I’d never see my dad again, and the moments since that he hasn’t been there. That birthday party. Results day. Graduation."
But her poignant and absolutely devastating blog post succeeded in having the ad pulled. Please, people in creative seats, remember there are real people with real feelings behind those television screens. It's not a game.
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