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After the Super Bowl, anti-suicide groups persuaded General Motors to edit an ad that showed a robot, in a dream sequence, jumping off a bridge. Now, those same groups have convinced Volkswagen to pull its new ad.
The new Volkswagen campaign shows a man who decides not to commit suicide after hearing that the auto maker is offering three vehicles for less than $17,000. Volkswagen of America spokesman Keith Price is quoted by MSNBC as saying that sensitivity is a key element to the Volkswagen brand. “With that sensitivity in mind, we have withdrawn this television spot.”
In a letter to Volkswagen of America CEO Frank Witter, Jerry Reed, executive director of Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, asked that the ad be pulled because it “trivializes a very significant public health problem.”
The ad has aired a handful of times on network television and more frequently on cable. It will be pulled out of rotation and will no longer appear in a few days.
Last year, Volkswagen pulled a series of billboards after complaints from the Hispanic community.
Radio stations in the U.K. reacted with outrage when they learned of a report by researchers from the University of the West of England which accused them of promoting excessive drinking.
The study looked at 1,200 hours of radio output,…
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In order to boost sales as much as possible during a time when…
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Fox says that viewers’ attention to commercials is higher when fewer commercials are aired. The revelation comes as a result of testing the network has done for its freshman thriller, Fringe, which will premiere Sept. 9 with limited commercials and shorter…
Worldwide sales of mobile phones will reach 1.28 billion units in 2008 - up from 1.15 billion units in 2007 - an 11 percent increase from last year, according to Gartner, Inc - (via MarketingCharts).
While the mobile phone market is poised for…
Consumers in all income segments are cutting back spending, and doing so to a greater extent recently than at the beginning of the second quarter, according to a comScore study examining changes in consumer attitudes and perceptions about the U.S. economy…
