Changes have been made to two hard-hitting road safety television adverts following complaints from Renault Ireland that one of its cars could be identified in the footage used.
Mr Bill Cullen, head of Renault Ireland and author of the best selling book, It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, asked the agency who made the adverts to make sure there was no reference to the Renault brand.
Last night the agency, McCann Erickson in Belfast, said in the spirit of "reasonable co-operation" the adverts had been altered to ensure there was no possible identification of a Renault vehicle.
Mr Cullen denied claims on some radio programmes that he had threatened to withdraw Renault's sponsorhship of RTÉ's Late Late Show if the station did not halt the adverts.
"That is a separate situation, we are happy with that sponsorship and it goes ahead as normal, regardless of this dispute" he said. RTÉ said the issue of Renault's sponsorship of the programme had not been an issue. Mr Cullen suggested a Renault Megane was clearly identifiable in one of the adverts. On Monday he faxed McCann Erickson and RTÉ asking them to cease transmission of the advert so changes could be made.
Mr Cullen said it was unfair to the 40,000 drivers of the Renault Megane that there should be any identification of the vehicle. He said the Megane had won several awards and was regarded as one of the safest vehicles on the road.
Mr David Lyle, managing director of McCann Erickson, said changes made to the advert made the Renault even less identifiable than in the original version. "This advert was not about any car type, it was about getting a message out about road safety," he said
Mr Cullen said the adverts, while shocking to viewers, were unlikely to change driver or pedestrian behaviour. "There should be adverts about speeding or people using their mobile phones while driving, but this campaign says nothing about those issues," he said.
Mr Cullen said cars in safety commercials usually had their brand names "masked" and this costs little. "If that had been done originally this issue would never have surfaced at all", he said.
The National Safety Council, which is funding the adverts, said it was glad the matter was being resolved and the adverts would continue to air on RTÉ and UTV. Mr Pat Costello, said while they were extremely graphic, the response to them had been positive. He said the cost of the adverts so far had been about €700,000.