The campaign was based around the strapline "get a taste for the X-treme", and promoted the Nissan X-Trail 4WD.
A member of the public complained about two executions, concerned that they could cause children to emulate the behaviour. The first showed a man in a kitchen putting coffee granules in his mouth, and then the sound of a boiling kettle was heard. He picked up the kettle from a cooker and put the spout in his mouth, and then the strapline came up.
The second execution showed a man taking a T-shirt out of a washing machine and about to iron it with a hot iron while he was wearing it.
Nissan defended the campaign, which it said had run since May 2004 without complaint. It argued that at no point was any unsafe behaviour shown, and that they were not intended to be taken seriously. It also argued that the ads had not appeared on websites for children.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against Nissan, saying the ads implied dangerous behaviour and that the complainant had seen the ads on two websites that the ASA considered were likely to be seen by children.
It said that advertiser should target more carefully in future campaigns.
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