Toyota Hilux Ads Banned in Britain on Environmental Grounds

Jiji Press

14:56 JST, November 23, 2023

LONDON (Jiji Press) — Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority on Wednesday announced a ban on ads for Toyota Motor Corp.’s Hilux pickup truck, saying that the ads, which include scenes of vehicles crossing a river, “disregarded their impact on nature and the environment.”

According to local media reports, it is the first time the advertising watchdog has banned an ad for such a vehicle on environmental grounds.

The ads are a Facebook post with a 30-second video of Hilux vehicles driving in a rural area, and a poster with an image of Hilux vehicles driving on a rocky road.

The watchdog said: “The ads presented and condoned the use of vehicles in a manner that disregarded their impact on nature and the environment. As a result, they had not been prepared with a sense of responsibility to society.”

Toyota had claimed that it did not believe that reasonable viewers would understand that the ads encourage consumers to drive irresponsibly in the countryside and cause environmental damage.