[shankar.balan]

ok guys

i've got in touch with the ASCI - Advertising Standards Council of India thanks to our friend Praveen.
spoke to them on phone and sent an email as well.

it seems they have also noticed this ad, find it to be in very poor taste and are initiating action on the same.

I have anyway sent out a formal complaint to them with a picture of the ad itself for their records.

I have also indicated that I am more than happy to file a PIL against VW for this.

lets see what happens - at the very least I hope we get to see these silly ads being removed forthwith.

and if anyone here on the forum has contacts with the AUTO MAGAZINES and other types of publications in India please try and ensure that they DO NOT ACCEPT THIS AD from VW POLO.

It would be pretty bad for any kind of publication/ Magazine to carry an ad which is in such poor taste.

And if anyone on the forum works for an Auto Mag/ publication and has a direct line to VW HQ then please send a link to this thread to their MD so he can kick the relevant b**t (s) !

[tsk1979]

Its a criminal offense to blow horn inside a wildlife sanctuary to disturb animals. I think apart from withdrawing the ad, VW should be made to pay heavy fines also.

[vikram_d]

All the best finding a rhino in the first place. Man you guys take things way too seriously.

[shankar.balan]

I have created a Group on Facebook to vote against this silly ad - hopefully with VW and other companies getting onto Social Network marketing, they will realize their mistake.

Urging as many of you guys as possible to join that group on facebook. It is a public group.

[lohithrao]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I have created a Group on Facebook to vote against this silly ad - hopefully with VW and other companies getting onto Social Network marketing, they will realize their mistake.

Urging as many of you guys as possible to join that group on facebook. It is a public group.

unable to find this group on fb... whats the name of the group?

[shankar.balan]

the group is called:

VOTE AGAINST the new VW Polo Car ad which is in very poor taste indeed.

plus i have received a confirmation of email receipt from the Director of Ad Standards Council of India.

He says the complaint is duly noted and that action will be initiated and that I will get a formal communication from them on the same.

Main thing is to ensure VW pulls this series of silly ads off the media at the earliest.

Originally Posted by lohithrao

unable to find this group on fb... whats the name of the group?

[Daewood]

may be you should also create another group in FB against,
1. the Pulsar ad for promoting bank robbery
2. against Hero Honda for all their ads.
3. Against mercedes for promoting dangerous driving
in the Schumi ad.
4. and the umpteen number of ads that offend in a humourous way...

cmon guys..this is India not talibanistan.
allow these advertising agency guys some creative freedom.

the hostile nature of many over here towards
the VW Polo makes me think..
the tagline of Onida would
have more suitably fit this german hatch!!

[SilentEngine]

Good initiative shankar!

Most (if not all) of the VW India ads are dumb. But at least they should know people are not dumb.

Originally Posted by vikram_d

All the best finding a rhino in the first place. Man you guys take things way too seriously.

Well, that's the point. We don't want VW to scare away the remaining rhinos either.

[poloman]

The ad was dumb, but creating a FB group to vote against the ad is dumber. Take it lightly.
No sane minded person is going to enter a wildlife sanctuary to take on a Rhino. The protest should be raised against numerous child health drinks who propagate wrong facts in their ads for one oneupmanship.
This is a smiley in team bhp. Is this in good taste?

[khoj]

Originally Posted by recshenoy

+1

Totally ridiculous and stupid ad i must say. actually today morning when i saw this , i had taken down these lines about rhino in my mobile so that i can post them in official jokes thread

at least one liter Mineral bottle and 22 KMPL ad makes sense but all other are simple senseless IMHO

Have not seen the mineral bottle ad but regarding the 22KMPL advert, is that shot deep in Africa? I cannot fathom where is this place in our country where you find tribals who drag you away and all within 22 kilometres of a motorable road. I doubt if such a place exists even in Africa.

The advertising agency it seems has no clue on how to sell an automobile and worse than them is the marketing manager at VW for giving the go ahead to such garbage. Hard to believe he/she is actually paying the ad agency to turn his brand into a laughing stock.

They should have stuck to copying old VW ads aka the "book a car for the future".

[kiku007]

OMG. This is getting real serious!

Whether we like the ad or not;it's dumb or not;VW's going to drive the point or not,

No animals were harmed during the filming right? Or am I wrong?

Then IMHO we should just like it or leave it. Lets leave it at creative freedom.

But if we are going to take this AD seriously and I would like to register a strong protest for every damn fairness cream ad in India. That for me, is an insult to every educated Indian.

[shankar.balan]

gentlemen. I disagree that this ad should be viewed as creative freedom. The ad is simply stupid. Whats bad is advocating going to a wildlife sanctuary and blasting the horn. VW india undoubtedly has a halfwit as a brand marketing manager who burns good money on ads like this. The creative chap and copy writer is equally stupid. Sad. Because i like the car itself quite a bit. I am happy to wait for the ad standards council to take action based on my complaint to them.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

gentlemen. I disagree that this ad should be viewed as creative freedom. The ad is simply stupid. Whats bad is advocating going to a wildlife sanctuary and blasting the horn. VW india undoubtedly has a halfwit as a brand marketing manager who burns good money on ads like this. The creative chap and copy writer is equally stupid. Sad. Because i like the car itself quite a bit. I am happy to wait for the ad standards council to take action based on my complaint to them.

Shankar.balan

I agree with you on all your points above except for the highlighted part and that is the ONLY reason why I feel it should be taken lightly.

Let me explain,
Pepsodent, Complan, Horlicks, Fairness cream Ads - There's absolutely no sense of humour in them and they ARE DAMN serious ads. So when they talk of low self confidence due to dark skin or short height, they are pretty serious about it.

Polo - Do you think the ad is serious? It's just stupid or funny. I'm surprised that you call VW advocating something in this ad. Are there ppl who would take this ad seriously and try that in real life?

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Has anyone seen the POLO AD in TOI this morning?

I cant understand what VW were thinking or what their agency were thinking when they produced the silly ad for VW Polo which came in TOI this morning.

I mean, the ad actually exhorts owners to drive their VW Polo to a wild place, seek out and find the wildest, meanest looking Rhino, create a face to face situation with the poor animal and then bang on the HORN!!

This is without a doubt amongst the most idiotic ads I have ever come across!!

It shows scant respect for the already dwindling wildlife resources of the world.Wild animals like Rhinos usually get highly irritated by loud sounds and horns etc and their behaviour is unpredictable.It would be stupid for someone to try this kind of thing as well as downright incorrect, bearing in mind what Ive said earlier. It encourages or appears to encourage highly socially-irresponsible behaviour not to mention adding to the already unbearable noise pollution levels in the country.

I am pretty sure there are enough and more people in our country who will take things literally and try to do exactly what the ad says - probably will go an honk at some poor inoffensive Bull or other animal and/ or a larger vehicle or something!

Anywhere outside of India especially in the West, loud honking is considered impolite and to be done only in cases of emergency/ extreme situations. - Yet here in India an European car manufacturer of the likes of VW goes around actively encouraging people to use their horns!!

In my estimation this ad is more or less as stupid as the earlier Maruti SX4 Ad in which the guy tries a face off with a lorry. Or even the other SX4 ad which is in bad taste- where the normally polite, considerate guy becomes a completely different animal when behind the wheel of his SX4!

And you think someone, after reading this advertisement, is actually gonna go out and do it? And if someone goes out and actually does it, with that low an IQ, I dont think he/she will able to afford a car.
Appreciate the subtle sense of humor.

P.S. Strictly my opinion but I find nothing wrong with the advert at all.

[kaushik_s]

If someone tries to do that and the Rhino charges then God only help that guy and the car. He'll not survive to tell the tale. But I think we might be slightly over-reacting here. It's just an ad. And this scenario can never happen, because
1. you won't find rhino's grazing on the roadside so that one can go and honk at them.
2. you are not allowed to take your car inside the National Parks(atleast the ones I know which have Rhinos)
3. Even if you allowed to take the car by some miracle then also you won't be able go any closer to the Rhinos where they graze. Normally it takes an Elephant safari to get that closer.
So I guess there is nothing much to worry about this stupid/PJ type ad.