Death driver Broderick's 'sick' car ad

Sarah Saunderson • Published 8 Feb 2012 23:02

Footage of Holywood actor Matthew Broderick behind the wheel in a multi-million dollar Super Bowl advertisement for a car has been branded as "sick" given that two Fermanagh women were killed when his rented car crashed into them 25 years ago.

The actor was on holiday in the county in August, 1987 when the BMW he was driving veered onto the wrong side of the road at Pubble outside Tempo and crashed head-on into a car driven by 28-year-old Mrs. Anna Gallagher, killing her and her mother, Mrs. Margaret Doherty, 63, from Lissan, Garvary. Yesterday (Wednesday) Mrs. Doherty's son Martin commented: "It wasn't the greatest choice of drivers given his past".

Broderick initially faced charges of causing death by dangerous driving, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of careless driving at Enniskillen courthouse and was fined £100. The actor, who was not in court, told police he had no memory of the crash. His then girlfriend, Jennifer Grey, who played his sister in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, was also injured in the crash.

The controversial advertisement for the Honda CR-V is based on the premise of Broderick's role in the same film where he spends the day away from school driving his friend's father's cherished car. In the advertisement, he cons his agent to take a sick day and enjoys his time driving his new Honda. It has become one of the most talked about commercials at the Super Bowl, becoming a YouTube smash and trending on Twitter when it was released on-line a week before Super Bowl Sunday last weekend.

A 30-second advertising slot at the American Football's Super Bowl, billed the greatest show on earth, attracts a $3.5 million price tag. More often than not the advertisements attract more comment than the game itself. It was at the Super Bowl that the Budweiser frogs advertisement made its debut. While the winners of that year's game don't come immediately to mind, many still recall the advertisement. Commercials have become an event in themselves, attracting big budgets and big stars. The Super Bowl is a huge event in the States and is televised worldwide. This year it featured a show-stopping performance by Madonna.

The Broderick commercial has been sharply criticised in the United States press. Don Surber, writing in the Charlston Daily Mail under the headline "Sick advertising in the Super Bowl" wrote: "File this under: What were they thinking? Super Bowl ads for cars that featured Matthew Broderick and Vince Neil? Truly the creative people at the advertising agency are either mentally ill or ignorant of the facts. Both men killed people as drivers.

"Vince Neil, lead singer of Mötley Crüe, did an ad for Kia. On December 8, 1984, drunk, Vince Neil drove drove head-on into another car and killed passenger Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, the drummer of Hanoi Rocks. The accident also did severe damage to two people in the other car," he added.

"In the Kia ad, Vince Neil sings. He does not drive. In fact, you barely see him. It is just another singing gig. That is not as bad as Matthew Broderick driving. Not only, what was the ad agency thinking, but what was he thinking?

"It's like when Ted Kennedy got a Portuguese Water Dog and named it Splash."

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 08 Feb 12

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