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wayne scott, the hotshot who took Revenue Canada to court and won an $11 food allowance for bike couriers, has set his sights on ridding the airwaves of car ads that he says tell motorists driving fast is acceptable.
The head of the Toronto Hoof & Cycle Courier Coalition has filed formal complaints with Advertising Standards Canada over a number of GM ads. One for GM’s Cavalier shows a driver trying to “scare” the hiccups out of a passenger by taking him on a swerving, death-defying ride. Scott says the ad “displays a blatant disregard for safety and depicts situations that might encourage unsafe acts.”
It’ll be an uphill battle, though. A complaint he filed last year against another GM ad went nowhere.
Janet Feasby, a spokesperson for Advertising Standards Canada, could not comment on Scott’s more recent complaints specifically. But the group’s 2000 annual report indicates that few complaints are upheld. Of the 1,143 complaints it received last year, for example, only 16 per cent were upheld.
GM’s Stew Low says GM is selling excitement, not speed.
