Volkswagen pulls ad with pregnant woman after complaintsVolkswagen Canada has pulled a television ad featuring two men so distracted by a car that they ignore a woman in labour after complaints it was insensitive.
The ad shows a man driving his pregnant wife to the hospital then leaving her sitting in the car while he and a paramedic admire the features of his Volkswagen Passat.
Volkswagen Canada spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff said Tuesday the company decided to pull the ad earlier this month after a small number of complaints from customers who felt the spot portrayed pregnant women in a bad light.
"I don't know if they used the word sexist but the gist of the complaint was that we weren't very fair to the pain and suffering that goes along with childbirth," Tetzlaff said.
"Upon second thought we thought, holy cow, that certainly wasn't the intent, but if anybody construes that way, we should pull it."
Katie Griffin, the actress who portrayed the pregnant woman in the ad, said she was "absolutely stunned" that it was pulled.
While she wasn't pregnant when the ad was shot, she had just given birth three months earlier.
"I was not offended at all by the spot," Griffin said in an email, adding she found it funny and was struggling to understand how people could deem it offensive to women.
"The whole process of labour, for me anyway, was this crazy, intense, roller-coaster ride -- a sense of humour was my saving grace."
More at linkGet over it, people. It's a commercial.
