Hyundai's UK division has landed in hot water following an advertisement that promoted the zero exhaust pipe emissions fuel-cell ix35 compact SUV by featuring a mature man failing to commit suicide using a hose pipe affixed to the exhaust.
The one minute long advertisement was created by Innocean Europe adverting agency, owned by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo and his daughter. It shows a failed suicide attempt because the vehicle had "100 percent water emissions," according to the advert.
Hyundai UK said that it didn't request or approve the commercial and it removed the video from YouTube on Thursday after condemnation of it spread swiftly through social media.
"Hyundai Motor deeply and sincerely apologises for the offensive viral ad," the company said. "It runs counter to our values as a company and as members of the community. We are very sorry for any offense or distress the video caused. More to the point, Hyundai apologises to those who have been personally impacted by tragedy."
Last month, Ford Motor Company expressed regret following a series of unauthorised adverts showing skimpily clad women bound and gagged in the back of a Ford Figo supermini. The ads were created by an agency in India, who fired the associated staff, to enter in a local awards show and were not envisioned to be part of a Ford campaign, the manufacture said at the time.
Back in 2010, Audi officials were distressed when one of its ad agencies used suicide as the foundation of a commercial that the company said it had neither paid for nor approved.
2007 saw General Motors air an advert during the Super Bowl when a yellow assembly-line robot dreams it loses its job after making a small mistake at work -- dropping a tiny screw -- and commits suicide by jumping off a bridge.
The 2014 Hyundai ix35 Fuel-Cell premiered at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March.
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