Toyota dealer ad sparks social media outburst

A Toyota dealer has been slammed on social media for making a poor taste Rolf Harris joke in an advertisement for a used Toyota HiLux utility.

Under the photo of a second-hand HiLux for sale, the description reads: “There’s more hope of Rolf Harris getting a babysitting gig than us finding a better example,” a reference to the 84-year-old Australian entertainer who was jailed for child sex offences in London earlier this month.

The advertisement goes on to list details about the vehicle, including the $28,990 asking price and that it is a 4×4 diesel and comes with a steel tray and bullbar.

A cutaway of the advertisement, which published three weeks ago, spread across social media sites Facebook and Twitter over the weekend.

The advertisement was for Goldfields Toyota in Kalgoorlie, West Australia, and was published by the local newspaper, the Kalgoorlie Miner, about three weeks ago.

Goldfields Toyota general sales manager, Darryl Evans, told News Corp Australia: “It wasn’t meant to offend. We try to make our ads a little bit interesting and a little bit lighthearted but we blurred the lines of good taste and bad on this occasion.

“It was only printed once, but it’s somehow got on to social media after someone took a photo of it, even though we’d taken it off the website.”

“As soon as we were made aware of the advertisement we asked for it to be cancelled. We do not endorse the comments and will be working with the dealer to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Toyota Australia, manager public relations, Mike Breen says.