Judith Stone, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, welcomed GM's decision. "We're delighted that they did the right thing," she said.
Stone pointed to real-life cases in which children as young as 5 have tried to imitate their parents by taking out their cars.
"Promoting illegal and risky behavior in ads viewed by millions of families -- especially young males -- watching the Olympics is egregious corporate behavior," the authors of the letter said. "It is doubtful that General Motors would condone the beer industry showing a 'dream sequence' of 10-year-old children having an after-school 'kegger.' "
Jacuzzi said the ad never was intended to depict a real-life situation. "The intention right off the bat was to capture a boy's aspiration of driving a Corvette in a very exaggerated way," he said. He said the company received positive reviews as well as criticism of the ad.
Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Cars, said the Corvette ad made a big impression on her 9-year-old son.
"Kids, especially boys, love cars," Fennell said. "There has to be a strong message that a car is not a toy."
