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DETROIT — Toyota has edited a television commercial about research into head injuries at the request of the NFL to get rid of footage of a helmet-to-helmet collision.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says "the tone of the spot portrayed the sport of football in an unfair manner."
The carmaker launched a series of commercials in November called "Ideas for Good," which show how Toyota technology is being used in other industries to benefit society. Wake Forest University is using Toyota's Total Human Model for Safety software to analyze football injuries.
The Toyota software has been used to study the effects of car crashes on victims. Wake Forest is using it to find ways to prevent and treat head injuries and create safer football helmets.
Toyota spokeswoman Zoe Zeigler confirmed Wednesday that the commercial was edited at the NFL's request, and said that imagery of a helmet-helmet collision was taken out. She said the players in the footage were not pros.
Concussions have become a major issue in the NFL because of concerns about the long-term effects on players. Before the season, the league distributed new posters to teams that warned of concussions' dangers in much harsher language than before. Since then, the NFL has cracked down on helmet hits with huge fines and threatened suspensions.
