Federal Tyres Cairns TV ad falls foul of ad watchdog for burnout

A TV ad promoting Federal Tyres Cairns which features a truck doing a burnout has fallen foul of the ad watchdog with the Ad Standards Board (ASB) ruling it goes against community standards around the responsible use of a motor vehicle.

The ad promotion the range of tyres at the garage, featured a shot of a man revving a truck outside one of its stores. While the truck remains stationary, the engine noise is loud and a large volume of smoke is generated at the rear of the truck.

A complaint said: “I thought burnouts were illegal”.

Federal Tyres Cairns did not respond to or defend the ad.

In its ruling, the ASB noted clause 291 of the Australian Road Rules which provides: “A person must not start a vehicle, or drive a vehicle, in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke.”

It was the board’s view that the level of noise and the amount of smoke generated by the truck’s rear tyres in the ad is in clear breach of the Australian Road Rules, thus upholding the complaint.

In response the advertiser indicated its intention to withdraw the ad. Free TV also confirmed the ad would no longer air on free to air TV.