Australian television viewers have complained about a Volkswagen Tiguan advert – similar to the one broadcast on South African TV – that makes light of parents seemingly forgetting their child in the vehicle.
The spot shows a couple in a variety of scenes forgetting that their daughter is sitting in the back seat. VW ends the advertisement (which isn’t nearly as strange as this one) with the words: “Easy to forget it’s a family car”.
Angry viewers contacted the watchdog, describing the commercial as “brutally insensitive”, “appalling and disturbing”, “very offensive”, “extremely concerning”, “in poor taste” and “incredibly inappropriate”, considering many children (and pets) had died after being left in hot cars.
Australia’s Advertising Standards Board, however, dismissed the complaints, finding that the commercial was “light-hearted”.
Watch the Australian advert below, and the South African version below that…
