• USA Today, Thursday, February 15, 2007 12:30 PM

Suicide prevention groups are upset with yet another auto maker, and this time it's VW. At least five mental-health organizations are demanding the company drop a new TV spot featuring a distraught guy on a ledge -- who decides not to jump after he hears there are three VW vehicles available for under $17,000.

But VW has no plans to pull it: "We see no reason to stop at this point," says Keith Price, a VW spokesman. "We are willing to continue the discussion. But controversy is not something VW had shied away from in its marketing." The complaints came shortly after General Motors -- under pressure -- agreed to change an ad with a suicidal robot.

The VW ad, "Jumper," premiered Monday during NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," but even before it hit the tube, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA sent a letter to VW asking that it not air. That was followed on Wednesday by a letter form four groups: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health America and National Alliance on Mental Illness.

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