Watchdog bans ‘irresponsible’ Jaguar advert

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an “irresponsible” Jaguar Land Rover advert for promoting  unsafe driving practices.

The advertorial, which appeared in the Guardian, used the headline “Drive time is no longer downtime” and promoted the car’s wi-fi connectivity, integrated apps and infotainment systems.

Jaguar Land Rover responded to complaints by pointing to the hands-free functionality its advert highlighted as well as its safety messages. 

However the ASA ruled the piece, which was promoting the Jaguar XE, should not be used again because it believed readers would understand the advert to “mean that drivers could now perform various other tasks whilst driving”.

It said: “Whilst we understood that the work related activities and communicating with family could be carried out in the car via hands-free technology, we considered that they were likely to distract a driver’s attention from the road and therefore preventing them from having full control of the vehicle.

“Therefore, we concluded that the advertorial was irresponsible because it was likely to encourage unsafe driving practices.”