Ad Watchdog: Scooter Commercials Show Too Much Unsupervised Fun

Zooming along the sidewalk at up to 13 miles per hour on an electric-powered scooter sounds like a lot of fun. However, one scooter company has run into trouble by running its ads that show an unsupervised teen zipping around the neighborhood during shows for inappropriately young kids. Their commercials caught the attention of the ad watchdogs over at the Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council.

Because I spend too much time on the Internet, I wasn’t aware that anyone under 13 actually watched the current generation of “My Little Pony” cartoons. In all seriousness, though, the CARU found this spot inappropriate for the audience of “Friendship is Magic,” which is when it aired.

Based on the description, the ad in question appears to be this one:

While the subject of the ad scooters around a residential neighborhood, the ad’s disclaimers tell us that it’s a “closed and controlled course.” The bigger problem, though, is that the more powerful scooters displayed in the ad aren’t appropriate for kids under age 13 or so. The main character in the ad films himself and there aren’t any adults present, which is a key part of the industry’s self-imposed safety rules. “children are prone to exploration, imitation, and experimentation and may imitate product demonstrations or other activities depicted in advertisements without regard to risk.”

The ASRC is a self-regulation body that reviews current ads and responds to complaints from competitors about problematic advertising. In this case, Bravo Sports informed the watchdogs that they are no longer airing this ad, and that they will keep the concerns about safety and adult supervision in mind if they make more electric scooter ads in the future.

CARU Recommends Bravo Sports Depict Safety Gear, Supervision in Future Scooter Ads Directed to Children Under 12 [ASRC]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist