TORONTO, Ont. — Subaru Canada has removed an ad from the airwaves after the Canadian Trucking Alliance called it an “unfair and unnecessary mischaracterization of professional truck drivers.”

Just a few hours after receiving a letter from CTA expressing concern with the radio ad, Subaru Canada’s public relations manager Joe Felstein informed the CTA that the ad has been removed from rotation. He also apologized if the ad offended anyone in the trucking industry.

“There really was never any intent to offend truck drivers. Clearly, without the services that truck drivers provide, we wouldn’t have a business,” he told CTA. “Truck drivers deliver our products safely and on-time.”

The ad was based on a fictitious traffic reporter singling out a livestock hauler who looked as if “he hasn’t slept in two days” and appeared to be “dozing off” at the wheel while “trying to eat a bag of ketchup potato chips.”

CTA president David Bradley recognized the ad was meant to be humorous, but said it makes light of an issue – highway safety in general and fatigue management in particular – that the trucking industry has gone to great lengths to improve upon.

“We greatly appreciate the promptness with which Subaru Canada responded to our concerns,” Bradley said upon learning that the ads were immediately cancelled. “It says a lot about the company.”