Councillor blasts car hire telly ad
A Stirling area councillor has slammed a multi-national car rental company for producing a “sinister” television advert.
Sixt last year released a commercial which showed a young woman joining what appears to be a cult and phoning her family to say she had “denounced all her possessions” and was moving to Milton Keynes with her “spirit guru and lover/ father-figure”.
Her mother replies with “that’s nothing” before boasting about the deal she’s secured for a rental car with the Germanbased firm.
The advert was put out as part of the company’s ‘Drive Smug’ campaign – however Trossachs and Teith Tory councillor Jeremy McDonald believes it is in poor taste, saying it makes light of issues surrounding domestic abuse.
Councillor McDonald told the Observer he wants them to pull the advert and make a donation to Women’s Aid by way of apology.
He said: “Since this rather sinister Sixt advert came out I winced every time I saw it.
“Some months ago I decided to criticise it on the grounds it was making light of cults (in a year we have remembered the victims of Waco 20-years-ago) and coercion which is something that concerns me as I attend the committee that tackles domestic abuse.
“I saw this advert as an opportunity to promote the work of Women’s Aid and show people in these situations there is help.
“I know Sixt are proud of their edgy, shock comedy campaigns but this one is in very poor taste and I would urge them to remove this advert and consider making a donation to Women’s Aid to show how seriously they take domestic abuse.”
Councillor McDonald complained to the Advertising Standards Authority but they decided to take no further action.
Jessica Lindohf, manager at Stirling and District Women’s Aid, added that she feels the advert makes light of a serious issue.
She said: “It clearly alludes to issues of power and control. Coercive control is not always visible. If someone comes in to us with a black eye we know what the problem can be. However coercive control creeps in and is harder to see.
“This advert makes light of this issue and there could be some people we work with who would consider this to be insensitive.”
Coercive control is a form of domestic abuse in which a person repeatedly behaves in a way which makes their partner feel controlled, dependent, isolated or scared.