UK ad authority restricts "violent" VW ad after logging 1,000+ compliants
 

Remember this Matrix-inspired VW ad that arrived just before the holidays last year? It seems the exaggerated fight scenes were too much for some viewers on the other side of the Pond. The British Advertising Standards Authority received more than 1,000 complaints about the staged violence, with UK residents reportedly fearing that it children may view the sequence and try to copy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FpsuPEab3o&

Statistically, the ad is now the fifth most complained about UK commercial ever. That honor helped it earn a pre-9pm TV ban in the local markets. Volkswagen, obviously a bit frustrated by the ruling, points out that the action seen in the commercial was not "dissimilar to the levels of action seen in many family TV programs." The automaker went on to say the fighting in the ads was "metaphorical rather than real" and that the "exaggerated, cartoon-like sound effects and actions were designed to dispel the gravity of the fighting." Um, that's exactly what we were thinking.

In case you missed it, check out the video re-posted after the jump.

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/04/02/u...gging-1-000-c/

Never saw it before, but DAMN that was awesome!

So they imitate the Matrix movie and get complaints from it?? WTF!! they show tits all the time in Europe but a little fight scene gets people all pissy... wow.

Berz out.

it aint bad at all actually..

i so agree with the titty thing.. but maybe cuz north americans favors violence more..? hahaha

i never saw that commercial

Kinda cool commercial but its just a fight scene with a golf at the end? doesnt seem to be that good at selling cars.

The Brits r a bunch of pansies. They complain about everything & come up with stupid laws

Pokemon is more violent than this. Fucking complainers i hate parents like that!!

LoL that was a pretty cool commercial!

For an older guy, he can really move

lol awesome

All we get is some bullshit commercial where a old vw bug is talking....

man, that rotor to the shin would have hurt

i like the concept behind it tho, i think it would be effective over here, but im sure they would get the same response

Actually, for a commercial, that's pretty violent. Entertaining (for me as an adult), yes, but definitely violent. I don't think I'd want my 8yo kid watching that either. (not sure if I'd go so far to file a complaint though)

The problem with it imho is that it does look "pretty" realistic, as opposed to the CG Matrix fight sequences. So yeah, some kids may take this the wrong way. VW could be facing future lawsuits if some kid pipes his friend then tells the cops he thought it'd be okay because they did it in the VW commercial.

Just go on break.com or whatnot and look at videos of people voluntarily getting curbstomped. Not everyone out there is the brightest.

Worst part is, I don't see how that commercial makes me want to jump up and run to the VW dealership.

And yes, European censors are tighter on violence, just as their North American counterparts are tighter on nudity. This is a well-known fact. I'm sure there many Europeans wondering why movies in North America get slapped with 18A or R just because there's a sex scene.