The UK Just Banned a ‘Harmful’ Commercial Because It Shows a Mom and a Baby Stroller

The left may preach that their agenda focuses on diversity and tolerance, but the truth is they do not embrace either.

The slippery slope of progressive ideology is poison to free speech.

Just ask Volkswagen.

The advertising team at the German automaker made what seemed like quite an inconspicuous commercial for the e-Golf, a new electric car that is fast, high-tech and environmentally sensitive.

The commercial focuses on the overcoming resilience of adaptation by showing scenes of people living in the wilderness, astronauts surviving in space and a man with a prosthetic leg performing a long jump. The final clip of the ad highlights the quietness of the car by showing it drive virtually unnoticed by a mother with a baby-stroller, presumably with her resting child in it.

And that last clip got the commercial banned in Britain.

The Advertising Standards Authority, the British agency that regulates ads and sanctions bad actors who fail to abide by its recommendations, decided that the imagery portrayed gender stereotypes that were too terrible for the residents of the U.K. to see.

The ASA took up the review of the case after three complaints alleged, “the ad perpetuated harmful gender stereotypes by showing men engaged in adventurous activities in contrast to a woman in a care-giving role.”

Volkswagen responded to the complaints and said, “the core message of the ad was centred on the ability of the human spirit to adapt to challenges and change brought about by circumstances.”

“They included the final scene of the woman in the park as a relatable example of adaptation to change, as they believed that welcoming a newborn into the family was a life changing experience that would be shared by many viewers, regardless of gender,” Volkswagen Group UK Ltd added.

In a written decision that took over 1,000 words, the ASA agreed with the complaints and banned the commercial because “the ad presented gender stereotypes in way that was likely to cause harm and therefore breached the Code.”

Well, your code is dumb, ASA.

“The ad must not appear again in the form complained about,” the ASA said. “We told Volkswagen Group UK Ltd to ensure their advertising did not present gender stereotypes in a way that was likely to cause harm, including by directly contrasting male and female roles and characteristics in a way that implied they were uniquely associated with one gender.”

It was the mother’s shocking act of sitting next to her baby’s “pram,” as they call it in Britain, that the ASA said is likely to cause harm.

You know, because mothers acting like mothers is too high of a risk. The ASA can’t let that kind of vile content be spread around the island.

Thank God for 1776.