Subaru’s Unsafe Advertisement

  • 1 min read

A reader questions the latest Subaru ad.

Can a Television Commercial be a Threat?

Q. I saw the new television commercial for the Subaru WRX, and I wonder if it will hurt or kill. Don’t you think it is an impressively irresponsible ad?

A. I’ve seen that commercial, and I think it ought to be pulled. It’s one thing to let potential customers know you offer a zippy performance car. I get whacked occasionally by readers for being over-enthusiastic about certain hot cars. But it is flat out dangerous to show two young men, as this commercial does, doing exactly the things we tell young drivers they should not do: hurtle around a twisting road, driver looking over to chat with seat mate, driver distracted by the sound system, the rev and the hiss of the auto conveying adventure rather than possible doom.

Picture of Steve Hall

Steve Hall

RECENT ARTICLES
Strange

Dad Uses Hot Daughter to Sell Car on eBay
Industry Events

Internet Week Summarized Infographic-Style
Industry Events

Charlotte Gets Social With SocialFresh
Opinion

Why Advertising Will Never Portray Reality
Cause

iPad Drinkspirated, Games Socialized, Honda Gets Naughty
Celebrity

Streakers Pimp Briefs, Politician Gets Clean, Naomi Campbell Sexes Up

Load more

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Real confidence rarely needs to announce itself: it shows up as stillness under pressure, a level voice when everyone else in the room is raising theirs, a willingness to let silence sit for a few extra seconds, and no need to perform for an audience that was never really watching

Real confidence rarely needs to announce itself: it shows up as stillness under pressure, a level voice when everyone else in the room is raising theirs, a willingness to let silence sit for a few extra seconds, and no need to perform for an audience that was never really watching

Global English Editing
A survey of 2,000 women over 45 commissioned by the herbal remedy brand A. Vogel found that more than two-thirds felt completely ignored by men the moment they walked into a crowded room, and 46 percent said no one around them seemed to understand what that shift actually felt like

A survey of 2,000 women over 45 commissioned by the herbal remedy brand A. Vogel found that more than two-thirds felt completely ignored by men the moment they walked into a crowded room, and 46 percent said no one around them seemed to understand what that shift actually felt like

Global English Editing
Received Pronunciation, the accent linguists still nickname the Queen’s English, took shape inside a handful of England’s most expensive private schools, and it remains such a reliable marker of that background that a stranger can often place someone’s education within a single sentence.

Received Pronunciation, the accent linguists still nickname the Queen’s English, took shape inside a handful of England’s most expensive private schools, and it remains such a reliable marker of that background that a stranger can often place someone’s education within a single sentence.

Global English Editing
9 truths about people that regular volunteers learn fast

9 truths about people that regular volunteers learn fast

Hack Spirit
7 habits of people who remember everyone’s name and use it well

7 habits of people who remember everyone’s name and use it well

Hack Spirit
What a glass of wine at 8pm actually does for a writer — and what it doesn’t

What a glass of wine at 8pm actually does for a writer — and what it doesn’t

Global English Editing
Load more