McDonald's ad made a meal of driving safety
Christine Sams
December 2, 2007
A McDONALD'S advertisement showing a carload of male teenagers ordering a drive-through meal is off the air after an investigation by an industry watchdog.
The advertisement, which shows a P-plater who drives his friends to the fast food restaurant after getting his licence, will not be screened again following claims it promoted unsafe driving.
After airing between November 4 and 12 it was investigated by the Advertising Standards Bureau.
"I think it was one of the most complained about for the month,"Advertising Standards Bureau chief executive officer Fiona Jolly said.
"The complaints made about this ad were that it depicted young boys driving in a manner that wasn't safe. The board noted that a carload of kids in the middle of the day isn't illegal but the board felt that the depiction of the kids really was contrary to all the public safety messages that are out there at the moment to young men on safe driving and safe behaviour in cars. They really felt that this was an ad that did breach the code."
A McDonald's spokeswoman said it was a short-run campaign, with the advertisement only scheduled to screen between those dates in November.
But it will never air again because of the ruling. McDonald's voluntarily follows the code of ethics set by the standards bureau.
In NSW it is illegal for P-platers to carry more than one peer-aged passenger between 11pm and 5am. The McDonald's campaign shows the carload of teenage boys in daylight, but the complaints flowed in to the Advertising Standards Bureau.
"We are killing more people every year on our roads yet McDonald's is promoting having fun behind the wheel, regardless if you can drive with any degree of real experience and confidence. It is just sending the absolute wrong message to our youth," wrote one complainant.
Another said: "I am appalled … I feel this ad should never have been allowed to go to air."
In defence of its advertisement, McDonald's filed a written submission that detailed its research for the campaign. "We also deliberately included a scene within the commercial where the mother voices 'Be careful' to her son upon handing her keys to him," said the McDonald's submission.
The Advertising Standards Bureau ruled the advertisement breached Section 2.6 of the Advertisers Code, because it contradicted prevailing community standards of health and safety.
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