There is no objective, definitive ranking of the worst car advertisements of all time. The examples below stand out for different, documented reasons: offensive or objectifying imagery, and advertising claims regulators found deceptive. They are selected examples, not a complete global history—and a public backlash is not the same thing as a regulatory finding.
How to judge a “worst” car advertisement
A useful comparison asks what the ad did, where it ran, what evidence supports the criticism, and what followed. An ad may attract complaints for its imagery; another may be withdrawn after public criticism; a regulator may separately establish that claims misled consumers. Those are different measures of harm, and none by itself creates a universal all-time ranking.
| Advertisement | Market and criticism | Evidence and documented outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Instagram clip (2020) | Social-media clip criticized as racist | Volkswagen said its investigation found no racist intent in production, acknowledged the need for greater sensitivity, and removed the clip and apologized, as reported by The Washington Post. |
| Volkswagen clean-diesel advertising | United States consumer-redress case over deceptive environmental and other claims | The FTC’s 2020 final court summary reported more than $9.5 billion repaid under orders and a program covering purchasers and lessees of more than 550,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars. |
| Audi used-car ad (2017) | China-market commercial criticized for comparing scrutiny of a prospective bride with inspection of a used car | Contemporaneous reporting said Audi withdrew the ad and expressed regret. |
Volkswagen’s 2020 Instagram clip: criticism of the imagery
Volkswagen faced criticism over a social-media clip in 2020 that viewers described as racist. The company’s May 2020 statement said an internal investigation found no racist intentions in production, while also acknowledging that content can have discriminatory, offensive, or disturbing effects. Those are separate claims: the company’s account of its production intent does not erase critics’ response to the imagery.
Jürgen Stackmann, then a Volkswagen Passenger Cars board member responsible for Marketing and After Sales, said: “We recognize that we have to question with much greater sensitivity whether content could potentially be discriminatory, offensive, or disturbing for people.” The Washington Post reported that Volkswagen removed the clip and apologized after the criticism.
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This case is different from an ad condemned chiefly for taste or stereotyping: it concerns claims that regulators found deceptive. In its July 2020 final court summary, the Federal Trade Commission said a seven-year Volkswagen campaign falsely represented diesel vehicles as low-emission and environmentally friendly, compliant with emissions standards, and likely to retain high resale value. The FTC reported that Volkswagen and Porsche had repaid more than $9.5 billion to car buyers under orders tied to the advertising since 2016.
The FTC said the consumer-redress program covered purchasers and lessees of more than 550,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars. That is the FTC’s 2020 description of vehicles covered by the program, not a count of all affected vehicles worldwide. The figures describe consumer redress and program coverage, not an estimate of how many people found an advertisement offensive.
Rank #2
Audi’s 2017 China ad: a used-car comparison that objectified women
In a commercial for the China market, a family member scrutinizes a prospective bride before the ad compares that examination with buying a used car. The comparison drew criticism for treating a woman as an object to be evaluated. Contemporaneous reports said Audi withdrew the ad and expressed regret. This was a specific local campaign; it should not be generalized to Audi advertising as a whole.
Why complaint rankings are not an all-time verdict
Complaint totals can show how strongly an ad provoked a response in a particular regulator’s jurisdiction, but they do not measure every audience or establish that one ad is objectively worse than another. The UK Advertising Standards Authority’s 2017 roundup noted that an ad had held the all-time most-complained-about position until 2014; that historical observation does not establish that it was a car ad or supply a universal ranking of car advertising.
Rank #3
- Used Book in Good Condition
What a better car campaign can learn
Offense, stereotyping, and deception call for different scrutiny. Teams assessing an ad can ask:
- Could the imagery or wording demean or stereotype people, regardless of the intended joke or production intent?
- Does the comparison rely on treating a person as a product to be inspected or valued?
- Can objective claims about emissions, standards, environmental performance, or resale value be substantiated?
- Are complaints being treated as audience feedback, rather than mistaken for a regulator’s finding?
Volkswagen’s own newsroom describes its “Think Small” campaign as one that dared to differ from other automakers’ advertising. It offers a useful contrast in creative approach, without proving a particular sales result or advertising effectiveness.
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Rank #4
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