The Kim Cattrall Nissan Car Commercial That Was Too Sexually Explicit For TV

It probably isn't surprising that Kim Cattrall — best known for playing on-screen siren Samantha Jones on "Sex and the City" — once filmed a car commercial deemed too racy for primetime television. But what's the story here?

Specifically, the 2006 ad was pulled from the airwaves in New Zealand after it received numerous complaints for apparently being too risqué for a car commercial. In the ad, Cattrall, in full Samantha Jones mode, takes a phone call — on a flip phone, no less — and freely discusses an amazing ride she just took, saying the body was incredible and that she didn't realize it would be so big. It's only at the end of the ad that we see she's perched on a Nissan Tiida, at which point she decides it's time to go for another round.

At the time, Fox News obtained a statement from Nissan about pulling the ad from Kiwi airwaves. "We made this decision in the interest of self-regulation and in response to public feedback," the statement read. 

Anyone familiar with "Sex and the City" knows that, compared to some of the other things Samantha uttered on the show, this ad was incredibly tame ... but apparently, it was a bit much for New Zealanders.

One thing Kim Cattrall isn't doing these days is hanging out with her former "Sex and the City" colleagues. Cattrall quite famously refused to join "And Just Like That" but ultimately made a highly choreographed appearance in the Season 2 finale. One can only surmise how much Cattrall was paid for this brief cameo, but beyond that, she retained the services of master stylist Pat Field — who worked on the original series but not "And Just Like That" — and filmed her short scene away from former co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis. The scene features Samantha in the back of a limousine, ostensibly in London where the character now lives, on the phone with Carrie as the protagonist prepares to leave her iconic New York apartment behind for good.

Unfortunately for Cattrall, her two big 2023 shows — "How I Met Your Father" and "Glamorous" — were both axed before the year ended. She did, however, find time that year to appear in Sebastian Maniscalco's comedy "About My Father" alongside the comedian and Robert De Niro. All one can hope for Cattrall, ultimately, is that she's never in a situation for even one hour where she's not enjoying herself.