A “menacing” Disney advert featuring a severed body has been banned by the advertising regulator, which said it was likely to frighten and cause distress to children.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found the entertainment giant had broken its rules with its advert for the Predator Badlands film.
Parents complained that the digital poster, which featured a large alien holding aloft the severed body of a smaller, human figure, was “inappropriate and disturbing for young children”.
Disney said the severed body was actually that of a robot, and the fact it had been cut in two “further emphasised its non-human nature”.
The advert, which was seen on the roadside in Giffnock, Glasgow, was promoting the Disney sci-fi film ahead of its release in November.
It featured a large, alien character, resembling a human but with a distorted head shape and muzzled mouth.
The alien creature was holding up a severed human figure by the neck, with its bottom half of the figure’s body missing and its spine exposed.
Other scenes in the large digital poster advert featured close-up shots of the alien’s distorted face and sharp fangs, captioned “welcome to a world of hurt”.
Two parents complained to the ASA about the advert, arguing it was inappropriate and disturbing for young children and therefore unsuitable to be displayed outdoors.
Disney subsidiary Twentieth Century Studios, which produced the film, said it was rated 12A, and the advertisement had been designed with that in mind. The company argued the brief and stylised nature of the scene meant the alien character or other imagery used would be unlikely to cause harm or offence.
It also argued the character which had been cut in two was a “synth”, or robot, and did not look like a human, adding that the fact it had been severed made it look even less human-like.
The severed body appeared for less than two seconds in a 10-second advert, Disney added.
Previous versions of the artwork had also been “sense checked” by third parties and amended based on that feedback, the studio said, adding that action “showed a willingness” to meet social responsibility standards.
Despite Disney’s arguments, the ASA said the firm had a duty to ensure scenes in its adverts are “suitable for a general audience”, including young children.
It said the alien, depicted after having dismembered the smaller figure featured in the advert, “appeared menacing”.
“Whilst we acknowledged Twentieth Century Studio’s comment that the smaller figure was not actually a human, but rather a ‘synth’ robot, we considered that was not clear from the ad,” the ASA added.
The watchdog said the smaller figure’s severed torso and exposed spine was gory, and would be “disturbing to younger children”.
It said the close-up shots of the alien’s face, and “welcome to a world of hurt” caption, would also have frightened younger kids.
The advert breached the social responsibility and harm and offence provisions of the UK’s advertising code, it concluded.
As a result, the ASA banned the advert and ordered that it “must not appear again in its current form”, while reminding Disney to ensure adverts with the potential to cause distress are not able to be seen by children in future.
A Disney spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the ASA’s ruling. We take our responsibilities to audiences very seriously and strive to work closely with partners to meet the required standards.”
Source: BBC
