Kia in hot water over “insensitive” bakkie advert in South Africa
South Korean automaker Kia is in hot water after a televised Tasman advert was deemed “insensitive” by the South African Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB).
The advertisement in question portrays several individuals – implied to be farmers – shaking uncontrollably and struggling to complete daily tasks, like reading a newspaper, weighing grain, and drinking coffee.
One of the farmers sits in his older bakkie, struggling to pay with a bank card, when the camera pans to an unaffected farmer who drives off in his Kia Tasman, followed by the slogan “Built for rough. Tuned for smooth.”
While the message of the advert seems to be that the Tasman has a smoother ride than older bakkies, the ARB received a complaint that it may be insensitive.
According to the body, the complainant stated that the commercial “depicts individuals shaking uncontrollably in a manner that closely resembles symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.”
The complainant described themselves as “someone who has a close family member suffering from Parkinson’s disease”, noting that they “found it deeply upsetting, insensitive and inappropriate”.
“The complainant feels that using movements that resemble such symptoms for entertainment or comedic effect can be perceived as mocking or trivialising those conditions,” said the ARB.
In its response, Kia clarified that the shaking represents the rough and uncomfortable ride experience that older vehicles deliver on our roads.
It added that “this is directly attributable to the bakkies they drive, with the rattling exhaust pipe shown as a deliberate visual connector, ‘making the causal link between the vehicle and the physical experience explicit and unmistakable'”.
The carmaker referenced the Code of Advertising Practice, which permits parody in South African advertising, adding that it provides a visual logic.
According to the ARB, Kia argued that the shaking depicted is distinct from a Parkinson’s tremor, adding that there are many other possible causes for extreme trembling beyond the complainant’s interpretation.
It also noted that the commercial’s context, causation, and conclusion leave no room for that interpretation to take hold in a reasonable viewer’s mind
In its response, Kia also noted the absence of widespread offence among the commercial’s South African viewers.
Kia told to amend its commercial
The Directorate of the Advertising Regulatory Board reviewed the complaints and the advertiser’s responses, ruling in favour of the complainant and instructing Kia to remove or amend the commercial.
In its ruling, the ARB Directorate referenced Clause 1 of Section II of the Code of Advertising Practice.
This states that “no advertising may offend against good taste or decency or be offensive to public or sectoral values and sensitivities, unless the advertising is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom.”
It did, however, consider Kia’s argument that the commercial’s narrative logic is that the people depicted are shaking as a result of their old bakkies shaking, and that there is no intention to depict Parkinson’s or any other neurological disorder.
“This context is not, however, set up from the beginning of the Commercial with, for example, a depiction of a shaking vehicle before the depiction of the shaking people,” it noted.
“Given this, the Directorate considers the inadvertent outcome of the depiction of individuals shaking severely may reasonably be understood for at least part of the commercial to be a neurological disorder.”
The ARB explained that because the commercial is likely to create this initial impression, it is also likely to cause sectoral offence to those affected by neurological conditions.
“This is prohibited by Clause 1 of Section II of the Code, and the Complaint is upheld,” it declared.
“The Advertiser is instructed to remove or amend the Commercial depicting shaking individuals immediately as deadlines permit.”
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