A HYUNDAI car advert that features a man attempting suicide in his garage before being thwarted by a zero-emission engine was withdrawn Thursday night after attracting fierce criticism.

The viral campaign for the South Korean car manufacturer, which was posted online last week, includes a graphic depiction of a man trying to end his own life.

But the firm removed the advert on Thursday after it was condemned for making light of suicide.

Holly Brockwell, a freelance advertising copywriter from London whose own father Geoff committed suicide in a similar way, wrote an impassioned open letter to the car-maker and its advertising agency Innocean.

She wrote: "When your ad started to play... I began to shake. I shook so hard that I had to put down my drink before I spilt it. And then I started to cry."

Ms Brockwell told The Independent: "It's worse because I work in the advertising industry and I know the pressure to get a good response, but that's not the way to do it."

Innocean was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, but a Hyundai spokeswoman said: "There is no plan to use [the advert] in any of our advertising or marketing and it has been taken down."