Hyundai in hot water over suicide-themed commercial

Thu, 25 Apr 2013

There's a surprisingly long and storied history of automakers creating suicide-themed advertisements. You'd think the companies and their marketing firms would have figured out by now that such ads always result in a swirl of backlash – see examples from Audi, Citroën, General Motors and Volkswagen, all pasted down below, as proof.

It seems somebody at Hyundai didn't get the message that many people don't find suicide a laughing matter. A video making the rounds on the web that was, according to Hyundai, produced in the UK, depicts a man trying to commit suicide by pumping exhaust fumes into the passenger compartment of his car. As it turns out, the self-assisted death doesn't quite go according to plan.

Scroll down below to see the ad from Hyundai, a slew of similar spots from other automakers, and an official statement from Hyundai. After that, we suggest reading this piece from our friends at AOL Autos to see how deeply such thoughtless advertisements can affect people.

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA RESPONSE TO UK IX35 VIDEO

We at Hyundai Motor America are shocked and saddened by the depiction of a suicide attempt in an inappropriate UK video featuring a Hyundai. Suicide merits thoughtful discussion, not this type of treatment.

By Jeremy Korzeniewski