Ecclestone's post-mugging advert for Hublot watches shows typical chutzpah, but it makes you wonder if anything is off-limits in advertising
You've got to take your hat off to Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone. The 80-year-old billionaire was badly beaten up in a brutal mugging outside his Knightsbridge office last month. Undeterred, he allowed his bruised face, complete with an impressive black eye, to be used in an ad for the exclusive Hublot brand of Swiss watches last week, with the slogan: "See what people will do for a Hublot."
It takes a certain chutzpah to turn a mugging into a money-making opportunity – Hublot, the ad notes, is the "official watch of Formula One", thus providing a puff for Bernie's motor-racing empire. Hublot watches, incidentally, can cost more than £25,000, making Tag Heuers look like Argos throwaways.
