The ad was created by FCB Melbourne and showed the owner of an older Honda Accord admiring the new model. The older model then locked its doors and drove off a cliff -- although no one is inside the car when this happens.
Nonetheless, mental health groups in Australia complained that the ad was insensitive to the issue of depression and suicide.
According to a report in the Australian trade magazine B&T Marketing & Media, Honda apologised for any distress the ad had caused. Lindsay Smalley, director of Honda Australia, said: "We have withdrawn the Accord advertisement from broadcast and will work with our advertising agency to create a revised television commercial."
Honda Accord advertising was in the news earlier this year, when it released the acclaimed "cog" ad -- a two-minute film created by Wieden & Kennedy London in which various components of the car performed an intricate domino-like operation to push the Honda Accord forward.
The ad was first praised for being innovative, but quickly faced accusations of copying a 1989 short film created by two Swiss artists. The ad was screened internationally, including in Australia, and has been awarded prizes at festivals including Cannes.
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