Award-Winning Ad Taken Off Air In Australia

bol_kernal writes "An award-winning advertisement on Australian TV for the new Hyundai 4WD has been pulled from being broadcast after stations received 80 complaints from concerned parents. The ad consists of a small child, age around 2 years, cruising down the road, window down, arm out the window, in his new Hyundai 4WD. He sees a girl of the same age standing on the side of the road, pulls over picks her up, and they go to the beach together. All in all it's cute, funny, and very well done. The ad aired late in the evening (8:30 pm or later), but it was pulled due to concern from parents about the copycat risk. What I want to know is, where has the responsibility of parents gone? Is the world becoming so serious — or so frightened — that fantasy is no longer allowed?"

Comments

Re:Nothing has changed

[DerekLyons]

If you had a child who, after seeing this ad, decided to run out and take off in your SUV, and was able to get away with it, there are problems with your parenting so deep and serious that it doesn't matter how many commercials you manage to have banned; your kids are fucked.

A typical slashdot response to a position or statement that they cannot discuss rationally - throw FUD and accusations against the parents. It plays well to the audience and gets you nearly automatic karma.
 
 

responsible parenting has gone somewhere; in the process, it also grabbed hold of some of our liberties and took off with them.

More of the same.

Re:Explain to a two year old?

[dal20402]

2) Being unselfish enough to have had children.

Right... so it's the people who have better attendance and productivity at work, pay more taxes, consume less resources, don't cause noise pollution and chaotic mess everywhere they go, and don't jabber all the time about how much better their own kids are than everyone else's who are somehow not "unselfish."

God, or anyone who's had the misfortune of flying in the last few years, knows there's no shortage of kids (and their totally self-absorbed parents.) In today's world, having a child is almost always about ego gratification. (That's why today's poor kids are being maniacally scheduled to build resumes of steel... it's so the parents can brag; most of the kids would rather aimlessly horse around with friends, and they would arguably learn just as much by doing so.) Even the few parents who have kids because they actually want kids are often the most selfish people -- as soon as people become parents, they automatically assume their needs are more important than everyone else's.

Back on topic, are people really leaving their car keys where two-year-olds can find them unsupervised? That's only marginally better than leaving guns and ammo in the same room. A really cute and clever ad (or any other speech) shouldn't be censored by parents who are only concerned because of their own sloppiness.

Re:Explain to a two year old?

[enjerth]

Fortunately, your opinion doesn't count for squat.