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The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has upheld a consumer complaint against Kia South Africa’s TV advert for the Tasman bakkie, ruling it could be perceived as making light of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.In a ruling issued on July 8, the ARB instructed Kia to remove or amend the advertisement after finding it breached clause 1 of section II of the Code of Advertising Practice, which prohibits advertising that offends public or sectoral values and sensitivities.The complaint was lodged by a consumer who said the advert’s depiction of people shaking uncontrollably resembled symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions. The complainant, who has a close family member living with Parkinson’s disease, argued the commercial was insensitive because it appeared to use such symptoms for entertainment.The advertisement opens with several people struggling to perform everyday tasks because they are shaking before revealing the movements are caused by the rough ride of their old bakkies. The driver of a Kia Tasman, portrayed as enjoying a smooth ride, contrasts with the other motorists under the slogan: “Built for rough. Tuned for smooth.”Kia denied the commercial depicted Parkinson’s disease or any other medical condition, arguing the shaking of the people represented the rough, uncomfortable ride experience that competing bakkies deliver on South African roads. The company said the advert made the cause of the shaking clear through scenes showing a vibrating vehicle exhaust and other cues linking the movements to the vehicles rather than a medical condition.The carmaker also said the advert had been reviewed before broadcast by a legal expert with extensive experience in South African advertising regulation, who concluded it constituted acceptable hyperbole. Kia further argued the Code of Advertising Practice permits parody and that the commercial made no reference to any disease.However, the ARB found while viewers would ultimately understand the intended message, the advert initially created the impression the characters were suffering from a neurological disorder.“The subsequent explanation for the individuals’ shaking does not retrospectively dispel the initial impression created by the commercial,” the directorate said.It said while depicting a neurological condition was not inherently offensive, using apparent symptoms of such a condition as the basis for humour, with the advertised vehicle presented as the solution, could reasonably be seen as trivialising those symptoms.The ARB concluded the commercial was likely to cause offence to people affected by neurological disorders and upheld the complaint.Business Day
