[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

People may die because they saw this advert, and others like it. Or worse, they may die because somebody else did.

Agreed.

By that logic, we'll become a censorship state. Let's ban any such movies or any YouTube videos or news reports as well. Will that curb stupid riding? I get concerned because this assumes that the potential reaction of an idiotic unpredictable fringe starts to dictate the censorship agenda. It's a slippery slope from there on.

To the other poster, Regarding pulsar and delhi, age is irrelevant. A mid 30s professional on a Monday morning is likely to be more tense and high strung than most teenagers. Idiocy and road rage know no age! Gurgaon is overrun by middle aged folks driving like total jerks. And the poor kids get a bad rep!

PS: the genesis of bad riding lies in as much peer influence as well as bad policing. If you see others obey the rules, or get busted for not following them, you'll jolly well follow them. IMHO the chalta hai attitude of our traffic police also fuels bad behavior.

[Thad E Ginathom]

By that logic, we'll become a censorship state. Let's ban any such movies or any YouTube videos or news reports as well. Will that curb stupid riding? I get concerned because this assumes that the potential reaction of an idiotic unpredictable fringe starts to dictate the censorship agenda. It's a slippery slope from there on.

Well, we are already, so it might be said that the slippery slope has been there for a long time. Now, given that we are on it, I'd rather it was used sensibly. This sort of thing is not borderline. Kids (and maybe not-so-kids) will emulate it.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by interest

SIAM had prescribed certain guidelines for automobile advertisements asking the companies to enusre that no ads should break traffic rules, speed regulations and show any stunts in normal traffic conditions.

Originally Posted by noopster

I guess, at the most, the ad / motorcycle company will come out and tell that they did it on private roads; maybe a film-city?

P.S: The video seems not working on the youtube link now.

[interest]

Originally Posted by YaeJay

@interest, I do get your point, Next time i see someone changing their clothes on a bike i will personally stop and suggest its not a good idea. Will ask my friends to do that too.

Drive safe

Glad to know that your intent is good! Why stop at just preventing people from changing clothes on their bike? You can go the whole hog by stopping them from performing any dangerous stunts on public roads or even from breaking traffic rules. Your remark may carry sarcastic undertones but my advise is quite serious. Even a small step from your side could end up saving a precious life. Cheers

[YaeJay]

^^ Sorry if it came off as a sarcastic comment, I do that for real. Esp signal jumpers.

[interest]

Originally Posted by thoma

I guess, at the most, the ad / motorcycle company will come out and tell that they did it on private roads; maybe a film-city?

P.S: The video seems not working on the Youtube link now.

Agree with you. these companies would find a thousand ways to skirt around the laws/guidelines. They will only understand when they face public backlash for showing such irresponsible ads.

Actually not just the link that I have shared, other links on youtube for the same ad have also stopped working. Strange coincidence, but it could also be a result of the complaint made to ASCI by one of our forum members. All is not lost it seems. We still have hope

[YaeJay]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Agreed.

By that logic, we'll become a censorship state. Let's ban any such movies or any YouTube videos or news reports as well. Will that curb stupid riding? I get concerned because this assumes that the potential reaction of an idiotic unpredictable fringe starts to dictate the censorship agenda. It's a slippery slope from there on.

To the other poster, Regarding pulsar and delhi, age is irrelevant. A mid 30s professional on a Monday morning is likely to be more tense and high strung than most teenagers. Idiocy and road rage know no age! Gurgaon is overrun by middle aged folks driving like total jerks. And the poor kids get a bad rep!

PS: the genesis of bad riding lies in as much peer influence as well as bad policing. If you see others obey the rules, or get busted for not following them, you'll jolly well follow them. IMHO the chalta hai attitude of our traffic police also fuels bad behavior.

reminds me of my last ride from tirukhalukundram, I usually start early and reach home before 9:00 am. After crossing thiruporur, there was this neatly dressed executive who just cut in from one of the bylanes, with no care for his life or others and was riding flat out on a Yamaha scooter. He dint even have a helmet on. Almost got run over, overtaking dump trucks and buses.

I am not sure what advt he saw nor have i watched an advt by that company to comment.

There are idiots. On two wheels, three, four and six. They will be idiots. Might change their attitude after they break a bone. See a nitwit, steer clear and Just watch out for them.

Blaming the advt industry for such behavior is sort of pushing it.

[giri1.8]

Well, meanwhile people are praising Hyundai's empty car convoy ad for Genesis, not sure why Indian manufactures get all the beating now a days.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by interest

Actually not just the link that I have shared, other links on Youtube for the same ad have also stopped working. Strange coincidence, but it could also be a result of the complaint made to ASCI by one of our forum members. All is not lost it seems. We still have hope

Youtube is more interested in takedown requests from those who claim rights in material. Whilst one would think that advertisers want the widest possible exposure, especially free, you never know!

Originally Posted by YaeJay

Blaming the advt industry for such behavior is sort of pushing it.

Yes, but why let them encourage the idiocy!

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

People may die because they saw this advert, and others like it. Or worse, they may die because somebody else did.

After 18 Years of Age and it's relevant growth of brain, if one is stupid (or consider's himself to be brave) enough to imitate this stupid ad and get himself hurt or killed I'd say, so be it. There are tens and thousands of videos available for this moron to be inspired from. Stopping this one ad isn't going to do any good.

Coming to the ad itself, for some reason the CBZ Extreme always has such stupid ads. I actually feel bad for the bike.

[noopster]

A small victory: ASCI replied to my complaint by email, which I am reproducing here:


I am personally pro-freedom of speech and expression but sincerely believe those arguments do not hold water here. Freedom of speech/expression is something that the government should protect. Meaning anything I say or create that potentially "offends" others needs to be protected rather than censored/banned. I am all for this: banning books, movies, cartoons, newspaper articles because they "offend" someone's religious, cultural, nationalistic sensibilities is nonsense. Of course, freedom of speech is not absolute: if you say something you are responsible for the consequences of the action, e.g. if you say something untruthful in public that harms another's reputation falsely, you are liable to face slander/libel charges.

The issue gets a little more complicated when you extend it to a private domain. For example, can I go to another person's home/place of work/restaurant/hotel etc. and claim to exercise my freedom of speech and expression? The answer is no. Every individual has right over his domain, and your civil liberties do not override those. Meaning, a hotel can ask its bouncers to move you without harm off their property if you start cursing loudly on their premises, and they are within their rights to do that. For an example closer to home, the moderator team here curtails freedom of speech on the forums because it violates internal norms about forum quality- this is perfectly OK.

Now to the specific case of advertising: should freedom of speech and expression apply? On the one hand, advertising is a creative medium and the same latitude that applies to books and movies should theoretically apply. And TV isn't exactly a private domain. But should we then not exercise any control over ad content? With few exceptions, advertising almost always has a commercial angle: the advertiser stands to make money by selling the product advertised. As such there is an expectation of reasonable truthfulness and a modicum of responsibility. Which means that adverts for cement that shows walls of a house in process of demolition refusing to break are plain and simple wrong. You are showing the product in used as intended and making false claims. This is one reason cigarette adverts promoting an active and healthy sporting life have been completely banned almost globally now. Most users of the product would have a lifestyle completely at odds with that being displayed and in fact taking up smoking after watching and being seduced by one of these adverts would almost certainly result in the opposite effect coming into play as that being portrayed.

In my opinion, the Hero Xtreme advert is similar: you are showing a product being used exactly as intended, and you owe a responsibility to your target audience. Showing people straddle the handlebars while putting on their pants, doing a wheelie while reaching down to secure their shoes, sitting backwards on the pillion while doing up their boots etc. all while claiming to be "Xtreme" is just plain wrong. As a counterpoint, if the same advert had the couple engaging in skydiving or bungee jumping, for example, and then returning home on their bike, the association with the "Xtreme" lifestyle is complete with none of the unsafe and illegal practices being encouraged here coming into play. This is purely an example but my point is that ad agencies have a number of options to create brand associations and that every "clever" execution needn't be the right one.

My final point: the ASCI is a self-regulatory body, composed of advertising professionals, i.e. the very people who create these adverts. It is not a government agency or a court of the land and these are not laws regarding freedom of speech and expression being enforced. Self-regulation is the best (and only) kind of censorship that is acceptable to me. When the industry itself is concerned about truth in advertising, that is a sign of maturity. If ASCI thinks the ad needs to be pulled, I am satisfied that raising my voice against it had some merit.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Well, meanwhile people are praising Hyundai's empty car convoy ad for Genesis, not sure why Indian manufactures get all the beating now a days.

Yeah, and imagine they are jumping from running cars in that, leaving it upto technology to turn and also brake when the car in front bakes with the only driver in the front car having his eyes covered with a black cloth. Isn't that dangerous too ? But the public in western countries is mature enough to understand what they see in the ad and what should not be done in real, no ones complaining and people are appreciating the creativity in the ad, India on the other hand, neither its authorities nor the people are mature enough to take an ad as a ad. We don't go to movies to watch a Akshay Kumar come back on a holiday from army and start keeping terrorists in his home without the police knowing and try to start replicate that in real life do we ? Why the ads then ?

[maverick.munish]

Absolutely agree with the thread owner.
Such reckless advertising is often the cause of accidents especially with the college going youth or those fresh out of high school. They imitate what is shown and that leads to disasters.
The stuff advertised here is to show the user as a new age COOL fellow who can mutli-task while riding a bike in the not so ideal road conditions.
What then is caused by this is that the youth try and do the same in the accident friendly Indian road conditions leading to grievous injuries and often death.

In my opinion, it is not just this advertisement but many others for 2 wheelers, that suffer from the same issue of safety being the last thing on the users mind.
these should be immediately taken off air.

[Ismail2512]

I personally believe it is (or was) an excellent ad, if we stop over reacting on the stunts and focus on the message - that is, sharp handling, excellent brakes and ubercool looks. Trust me, I have been a biker for 7 years, have ridden bikes ranging from 100 cc to 200 cc and oblige by the traffic rules. An Advert will not change my perception that I start performing stunts on bike the minute after I see it.

Those who do it (and there are loads) will continue to do it irrespective of the adverts or disclaimers, the only way would be sharper traffic policing, harsher punishments and stringent testing before issuing licenses.

It is really sad that the ad is pulled off - it was lively, had a great score and really made an otherwise okayish bike look awesome - which is what ads are meant to do!!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Of course the youngsters want to show their friends, and especially their ladyfriends, that they can do all that stuff. It's pretty natural for youngsters to behave that way. They may even challenge each other.

Youth is fairly stupid in many ways. Haven't we all been there? Doesn't that apply to us? and if you, dear reader, happen to be the exception, well fair enough, but most people are not exceptions.