A Latest Zealand car yard known for its comedic ads has been asked to remove an internet video after filing an official criticism about the “sexual innuendo” used.
Nevertheless it seems that sexual references weren’t the problem for the national promoting authority.
In a Portage Cars Facebook and YouTube ad featuring a plug-in hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander, social media star Kiedis Haze, who acted as a car salesman, told viewers that they might “appear like a MILF driving it.”
Other comments included “doing the deed under the fireworks on Latest 12 months’s Day” and “a plugin that matches the insert motion you get”.
Dissatisfied, Kiwi filed a formal criticism with the Promoting Standards Authority and stated that the Portage Cars videos are “not only offensive, but additionally highly sexualized and inappropriate for the general audience to which they’re promoted.”
![Social media star Kiedis Haze starred in a controversial ad as a car salesman.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013907429.jpg?w=1024)
Nonetheless, it was one other part of the criticism that eventually led to the removal of the video.
“… also claims that the advertiser has the “easiest funding in the world”, but there may be nothing to support this claim,” the complainant wrote to the authorities.
Portage Cars responded to the criticism by saying the video was “not an commercial” and was “an entertaining car review that generates social media and brand awareness.”
It said the humor was “well received” in Latest Zealand and “even internationally when our videos go viral” due to supportive commentators in Australia and the US.
![The ad claims that Portage Cars has](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013907451.jpg?w=1024)
“Apparently saying ‘easiest finance in the world’ is a joke, saying something is the easiest in the world is a common phrase in Latest Zealand,” the company wrote.
It added: “The complainant took a light-hearted, satirical review of the car seriously without disregarding the Latest Zealand sense of humour.”
The Promoting Standards Authority ruled that the film didn’t cause a serious or widespread offense and despite being dangerous, it’s unlikely to cause a serious offense to its target market.
Nonetheless, authorities deemed the “commercial misleading” because of the claim “the easiest funding in the world” and ordered the film to be removed and never reused in its current form.
Portage Cars CEO Craig Rutherford told NZME that the company now avoids promoting funding because of its strict rules, but has not discouraged them from using sexual innuendo to sell cars.
“They’re working,” said Rutherford. “If we have had a vehicle in stock for a while, we’ll do a review on it and it would sell out almost immediately.”