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Old 22nd June 2017, 20:27   #31
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Two things are being mixed here -

1. The car has 6 airbags (which is a good thing)

2. The advert claims to show that Airbags including front airbags protect kids (which is not a good thing).

If you look at the Baleno made here and sold abroad, it has a Passenger Airbag off option on the dashboard - this invariably is in case a kid is sitting in front. There is no such button on the same Baleno sold in India. Does Ford have the provision to disable the front airbag?

I would not have a problem if instead of a kid an adult had been used to highlight the safety features of the Ford.

I am curious to see if a similar ad which shows how good airbags are for young kids has ever been made or aired in the developed countries with stringent safety rules.

Additionally, how difficult would it be for a company like Ford to put a disclaimer stating that kids should be belted in at all times, especially when airbags go off? To say this is a time constraint of advertising is a bit of a stretch.
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Old 22nd June 2017, 20:40   #32
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackasta View Post
Airbags, of any sorts, can do more harm than good to a kid that age. I know it firsthand, had a curtain airbag open in a car crash once and it touched the top of my left ear. Got a nasty purple colored bruise with pain lasting almost a week.
A mild concussion is sometimes better than a serious head injury right?

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
2. The advert claims to show that Airbags including front airbags protect kids (which is not a good thing).
This is extrapolating too much from a 1 minute add.

I honestly think the ad narrative gave more emphasis for the rear seat passenger safety by saying "You are equally safe at the rear seat", rather than child being safe in front due to airbags OR focussed only on safety of a child.

Child was used as a messaging tool to capture audience. We are all reading too much into it, let me stop!
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Old 22nd June 2017, 22:12   #33
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Ford is just showcasing the USP of their products. Their products aren't selling as much as a Maruti or a Toyota, so why not advertise the presence of 6 airbags across their range? Even if this advertisement can compel 1% of Indians to buy a car equipped with airbags, imagine the potential number of lives which can be saved. Kudos to Ford, for such advertising.
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Old 22nd June 2017, 23:08   #34
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

What we fail to realize is that this whole air bag thing is just additional insurance. We pray that we never get to see air bags getting deployed ever. We hope our emotions are in control and most importantly the lucky lady always travels with us so, after 10 years when we sell the car we keep all air bags intact.

In a country where we see school children travelling in OMNI airbags can definitely cause more damage i guess. Sigh!!!!!

This is a simple ad that says buy a car with as many air bags as you can so in case of luck not favoring you one day may be the bags will bring luck. And when you use a kid in the ad, as a parent i would start thinking about airbags when i start scavenging for car and who knows, this trend can change the basic versions of all cars to have minimum 2 air bags. And i honestly hope this ad is a nice starting point.

From seeing the response this is what i get. There are folks who see this ad as a potential requirement while shopping for cars and then there are folks who google too much that for a common cold they usually are taking steroids.
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Old 22nd June 2017, 23:39   #35
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Seriously??!!???!!???

What exactly is the expectation here on the ad running a few seconds?
The ad shows the kid seated at the back seat and buckled up.It shows the kid questioning her dad about air bag.

Is that not enough safety edcuation in a ad spawning few seconds?
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Old 23rd June 2017, 00:44   #36
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
The advert claims to show that Airbags including front airbags protect kids (which is not a good thing).
The father just there are airbags at the rear that would protect her. It didn't imply the child could sit in the front. Anything that isn't shown is purely your own interpretation.

While this is on the ad, every airbag equipped car has a warning sticker on the passenger visor. How any owner would ever miss that?

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
If you look at the Baleno made here and sold abroad, it has a Passenger Airbag off option on the dashboard - this invariably is in case a kid is sitting in front. There is no such button on the same Baleno sold in India. Does Ford have the provision to disable the front airbag?
Yes it does, its documented here. So do many other airbag equipped cars in India.

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
I am curious to see if a similar ad which shows how good airbags are for young kids has ever been made or aired in the developed countries with stringent safety rules.
They don't! Not because of the stringent rules, but its hardly an USP. A family friend recently brought a Renault Clio, he didn't realise there were side and curtain airbags till I told him . Celerio has 4 airbags minimum, Swift has 7 airbags+ESP+VSM etc. And these are entry level cars.

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
Additionally, how difficult would it be for a company like Ford to put a disclaimer stating that kids should be belted in at all times, especially when airbags go off? To say this is a time constraint of advertising is a bit of a stretch.
When they have a kid belted up on the rear seat onscreen. why?

Disclaimers are a farce, and they are no excuse to show nonsense in ads either.

Last edited by narayans80 : 23rd June 2017 at 00:46.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 03:26   #37
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Rant Alert!
It is depressing to see how most of us have become overtly negative - start over-analyzing every little thing to find negatives and over-critical of anything and everything we see!
It is a simple TV advert highlighting the added safety aspect of a car i.e. Six Airbags - through a simple question-answer between a daughter and her father.

- Is it misleading?
Why? How? Many here argue that the child should've been in a booster seat. Eh!? Do we have ANY regulations requiring booster seats like many countries do? NO! Then how is this ad misleading? The child is belted up, seated on the rear - which is the logical thing to do. So what's wrong? Even if FORD had shown the child seated in a booster seat, I bet 90% of our general population wouldn't have a clue what it is!
Let me give you an example closer to where we are - go through the hundreds of fantastic travelogues we have on this forum - see for yourself how many of our own BHPians have their children in booster seats.

- We in India still live in an age where it is perfectly alright for kids to be:
1. Seated in the lap of a belted adult in the front seat - with the adults 'secure' hands holding the child in place.
2. Kids almost half-out of sun roofs with the parents ripping their cars on Marine Drive / Sea-Link, Worli Seaface (I can only quote Mumbai examples).
3. The worst for the last - kids seated in the lap of the driver!

As an Uber driver I've had multiple instances where parents seat their kids in their laps upfront - citing the kid doesn't want to sit in the rear. Now my car (taxi) is an Ecosport AT with six airbags - so I request them to have their child seated in the rear as it isn't safe - NOT ONE passenger has listened - ALL have the same LAME argument - I'm holding him tight na! Anyways Mumbai mein kidhar kuch hota hai!
I have no option but to give up!

My point is - even though I personally don't like the ad - and find the way it is made kindof lame, we do need to appreciate the fact that an important safety aspect is being highlighted - changing the way cars have been advertised in India - and if it succeeds in making other car manufacturers change their marketing strategy as well - it's only going to be beneficial to us as consumers.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 06:02   #38
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
Two things are being mixed here -

1. The car has 6 airbags (which is a good thing)

2. The advert claims to show that Airbags including front airbags protect kids (which is not a good thing).
.
I wonder if you could add a poll here to see the response of members on how misleading or not this ad is to viewers. We could get a better perspective of what a potential buyer of the 6 bag version/other versions feels about the ad.

Last edited by wilful : 23rd June 2017 at 06:05.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 08:38   #39
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

I'm going to be neutral here and just state points.. both sides can decide based on their respective beliefs. Our country is different, it is no America and it is no Europe so please keep that in mind before continuing on to read.

- Children under 12, according to Stanford research, should not be placed in front with airbags activated.

- The reason for the above suggestion is because frontal airbags are firm and can land quite a punch when activated, and children do not have the bodily resistance/strength of a teen at that lesser age.

- Curtain airbags are just that, curtains that flow from above to protect from the pillars and window glass, it doesn't have that punch effect of the frontal airbags and is much better than dealing with the pillars and glass crashing towards the passenger, howsoever old.

- Now if the above point validates seating all passengers under 13 in the rear-middle seat ONLY, then so be it but it has never been suggested before. American movies show mutiple kids jumping, eating their cereal, dancing and leaning into the front seats all the time, in reality is it bad? Sure it is.. but sometimes its just entertainment.

- ISOFIX seats are for children upto a maximum of 6 years of age, and even they are placed in the sides of the rear passenger seats for easy access. There are NO ISOFIX seats for kids above 6 years of age or 25kg+ weight. The rest may need some form of booster seats till their height reaches 4'5", but even those rules are not being clear as the booster seat is never mentioned, words like "appropriate seats" are being vaguely written.

- The above point makes it clear that children above 6 and upto 12 have to use the rear seats like a regular passenger. NOW whether its sides or centre only, is anyone's interpretation. There is no DIRECT mention that side airbags are dangerous for children, its just mentioned that the seating should be correct. This is because if the law explicitly mentions that side seats are unsafe in the rear (if it, at all is), the parents with 2, 3 children will have zero alternative of carrying them all.

- The law is relaxed if the car is old and has no rear restraints or if a passenger is travelling with their children in a taxi in the back.

Sure, umpteen studies can be shared of various different universities or safety agencies that can contradict with the above points.. fact remains that any motoring of any kind is unsafe, this in a country where I've seen 3-4 underaged kids riding the same bike helmetless, or where parents carry 2 of their kids on a bike with one sitting on the petrol tank.

Make of this what you will.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 09:08   #40
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post

2. The advert claims to show that Airbags including front airbags protect kids (which is not a good thing).
If you hear the child in the ad carefully the child clearly says 'Meri seat to piche hai'. So it can be assumed that the parent has educated the child to be in the rear seat only, which is emphasized more by the fact, it being their absolute new car, the child going to rear to take her seat.
The father just says 'Aap piche bhi safe ho'. Taking the child's statement above into consideration, where does it say that the front airbags are there to protect the kids.

Please see and interpret the ad as a conversation and not by specific words, it will help answer your concerns.

In my opinion, Ford has passed 2 clear messages and kudos to them for that.
1. Airbags and their safety
2. Child should be placed in the rear seat only, by the statement 'Meri seat to piche hai' .

Last edited by Altocumulus : 23rd June 2017 at 09:11.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 09:18   #41
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
As a father of a baby and a concerned citizen
Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
Two things are being mixed here -

1. The car has 6 airbags (which is a good thing)

2. The advert claims to show that Airbags including front airbags protect kids (which is not a good thing).
Now that you've been telling about the bad side of it, I'm curious to know how you set an example in this regard.

1) Do all of your cars have side airbags?

2) If not, why? If any other car in the segment offered side airbags, why was that option ignored?

3) If yes, how do you seat your kid in the car, the right way?

If the answer to the first question is a no - then I'm thankful to Ford that they've made one more person take notice.

Last edited by CrAzY dRiVeR : 23rd June 2017 at 09:22.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 09:23   #42
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re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Two separate points without going into whether the ad is completely accurate:

1. The ad does clearly convey the message that airbags are a good thing, the more the better

2. The ad is incredibly irritating because of the depressing expression the child has

There is never going to be an ad which is entirely factually accurate because the purpose of an ad is to show the product in a positive light.

We cannot assume that people are dumb though we should presume that they are uninformed. The former leads to stupid laws and rules such as a prominent warning that blades/scissors cause cuts and that hot coffee is hot.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 11:09   #43
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Re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

The NHTSA "has not seen any indication that current roof-mounted, head-side airbags pose a risk to children" - Source (PDF).

Am not understanding what the problem is. Ford has:

- Encouraged buying the top safety variant
- Has the child seated at the back
- And buckled up

Yes, the girl could have been in a child seat, but come on - it's still a good ad that drives the message home.

Quote:
Originally Posted by invidious View Post
Doesn't mention the need for the kid to be restrained. How many Indians wear seatbelts at the back?
In the video, the kid is buckled up no? How many messages can one expect in a short ad?
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Old 23rd June 2017, 11:15   #44
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Re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

This is the first time ever some manufacturer has advertised their safety features than other stupid features that are apparently desirable to the Indian public. Kudos to Ford for this ad. The ad is not misleading at all, unless you are hell bent on finding mistakes.

Heck, this ad is 100 times better than those ads that claim that their toothpaste has cooling crystals, drinks that contain growth hormones and soaps that claim to make you look younger.
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Old 23rd June 2017, 11:24   #45
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Re: Any concerns around the Ford EcoSport's latest safety advertisement?

Regarding the child seat/booster seat point; the purpose is to restrain children properly with seat belts of the car with the help of the seat. It depends on the height/weight of the child and not necessary the age. The child need not use any booster seat if the seat belt fits him/her perfectly.
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