(Deletes reference to U.S. audience in paragraph 5, edits)
By Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL, April 26 (Reuters) - South Korean automaker HyundaiMotor Co has been forced to apologise for anadvertisement that sought to promote the zero carbon emissionsof one of its cars by featuring a man failing to commit suicideusing a hose attached to the exhaust.
The ad debacle is the latest to hit the carmaker, theworld's fifth largest by sales when combined with its Kia Motors affiliate, after it exaggerated fuel performancefigures in the United States, and announced a large-scalevehicle recall this month.
The South Korean company scrambled to limit the damage fromthe advertisement, which was pulled. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxFRa3Cesh0)
It was made by the European unit of Innocean Worldwide Corp,an in-house advertising firm that is 40 percent owned by ChungSung-yi, a daughter of Hyundai Motor Group chairman ChungMong-koo.
Hyundai Motor and Innocean said they "deeply and sincerelyapologize for any offense or distress" that the posting of the"viral film", aimed at a European audience, may have caused.
The YouTube ad for Hyundai's hydrogen-powered car ix35featured a middle-aged man attempting to commit suicide by sitting in his car with a hose connected to its exhaust pipefeeding into the car's interior.
He failed to kill himself because the car had "100 percentwater emissions," according to the advert.
Holly Brockwell, who identified herself as a digitalcopywriter in London, wrote on her blog that she felt "sick"after watching the advert, saying her father had committedsuicide when she was a child.
"I understand better than most people the need to do ...something talkable, even something outrageous to get thoseall-important viewing figures. What I don't understand is why agroup of strangers have just brought me to tears in order tosell me a car," she said in an open letter to Hyundai andInnocean.
"My dad never drove a Hyundai. Thanks to you, neither willI."
Hyundai, led by chairman Chung Mong-koo, has transformeditself from the butt of jokes to a company that has aspirationsto match Germany's Volkswagen AG as it seeks to shedits value-for-money image and move upmarket.
Hyundai's crossover ix35 car, which is sold as the Tucson inthe United States, will go on sale in Europe by 2015 as thecompany seeks to leap-frog its competition in the eco-friendlycar segment.
Hyundai is not the only carmaker to have run into troubleover its advertisements. Last month, U.S. automaker Ford MotorCo came under fire for sexist adverts in India, promptingan apology from Ford India and the dismissal of employees at anIndian unit of advertising group WPP (Editing by David Chance and Daniel Magnowski)