A Volkswagon Ad Gone Bad

by Barbara L. Jackson


The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) an independent regulator for advertisements, sales promotion and direct marketing in the UK. has pulled a Volkswagen ad from viewing because the ad, which features scenes inspired by the Jason Bourne and Matrix films, has breached several broadcast and TV advertising codes. According to the Media Law Professors Blog, the ad opens with the chief engineer being violently punched in the face by another version of himself; the rest of the ad is a fight sequence between him and multiple versions of himself. Volkswagen explains that the message of this ad is that sometimes the only one you have to beat is yourself.

The ASA found the following breached:
Advertising Standards Code rule 7.4.7 (use of scheduling restrictions)
Rules on the Scheduling of Television Advertisements sections 4.2.3 (treatments unsuitable for children)

TV Advertising Standards Code rule 6.1 (Offense) and 6.2 (violence and cruelty), 7.4.1 (mental harm)

The ASA stated “despite the absence of blood or other injuries, the punches, kicks and other fight moves were realistic in appearance and involved ordinary people in an everyday setting”. The ASA felt that these scenes were too violent for children and could possibly evoke in them a desire to “copycat”.


-If this ad were broadcast in the U.S. what might some legal implications be for nixing it? What might some counterarguments be for keeping the ad?

-Does this video present any other legal issues?


Petitioning to Enact Rihanna’s Law
By Barbara L. Jackson

In the aftermath of the Rihanna, Chris Brown media frenzy surrounding Brown’s alleged abuse of the pop-singer online petitioners as well as petitioners in the state of California are pushing to have Rihanna’s Law passed.

This law seeks to make illegal the release of photos of battered victims to the mass public. During the Brown and Rihanna case, TMZ, a celebrity paparazzi driven form of media, got a hold of a photo that was reportedly leaked by the police department. Investigations are still being carried out to find the source of the leaked photo.

The photo formed questions about crossing the line of the public’s right to know and the privacy of a public figure. The protection of names in low profile cases is similar to the protection of photographs in high profile cases. Although these individuals are public figures they still deserve some form of privacy as far as the law is concerned.

-What legal recourse can Rihanna or other celebrities take if a photo of them, taken during an investigation, is leaked?

-Public figures give up a degree of privacy, but does the released photo of Rihanna cross the line of her privacy?