BANNED: The Toyota GR Yaris Ad Deemed Too Fun for TV

A Rally-Inspired Spot Runs Afoul

It seems like the new Toyota Land Cruiser FJ isn’t the only Toyotabanned in the Land Down Under. Toyota’s latest GR Yaris – or at least its TV ad – was designed as a celebration of one of the most character-rich hot hatches on sale today. The spot leans heavily into the GR Yaris’ rally heritage, opening with the car tearing across a remote landscape as its helmeted driver channels full World Rally Championship theatrics.

In a playful twist, the action pauses at a fictional drive-thru called “Up’n Down Burgers,” where a simple food order becomes the setup for a series of dramatic driving sequences, including gravel jumps, power slides, and water splashes. The result is a cinematic, tongue-in-cheek short film that exists squarely in fantasy rather than in daily driving reality.

Creativity Getting a Crutch

That sense of fun, however, is precisely what triggered a problem with Australian regulators. The commercial was banned from broadcast after being deemed non-compliant with the country’s motor vehicle advertising code. Authorities concluded that the driving behavior shown could be interpreted as unsafe or reckless if attempted on public roads, even though the ad clearly depicts a professional driver in controlled environments.

Following a complaint, the panel ruled that the visual messaging still crossed the line by normalizing maneuvers that would violate road laws, leading Toyota to withdraw the ad from television rotation in Australia.

While it is understandable that the video may cause harm impressionable teens, for enthusiasts, the GR Yaris commercial hit all the right notes. Shot in the same vein as those Hoonigan videos, it embraced the idea that performance cars should be emotional and entertaining, not just practical appliances. Toyota’s GR division has built its reputation on authenticity and motorsport credibility, and this ad felt like an extension of that ethos. Rather than listing horsepower figures or acceleration times, it showed the car behaving like a rally weapon, exaggerating its capabilities in a way that made the GR Yaris feel alive and mischievous.

Times Have Changed, but Enthusiasm Remains

Regulators, however, tend to view such messaging through a very different lens. Advertising standards bodies increasingly prioritize the potential influence ads may have on general audiences rather than enthusiast intent. Even when scenes are clearly fictionalized, the concern is that aggressive driving imagery could encourage imitation.

Toyota has encountered similar issues in Australia before, including earlier GR Yaris commercials that were also pulled after drifting scenes drew complaints. The pattern suggests that performance-focused storytelling faces shrinking tolerance in tightly regulated markets.

While this latest ad may no longer appear on television, it continues to circulate online, where it has been enthusiastically received. For fans, the banned GR Yaris commercial has become something of a cult favorite, not just because of what it shows, but because it represents a shrinking space where car advertising can be unapologetically fun.