Warner Bros has been given a stiff warning by the ad watchdog after the regulator banned “offensive” posters for latest The Mummy film – released in April – ruling they “gave a realistic impression of a dead child” and were unsuitable for outdoor display.
The OOH activity, which was part of a much wider campaign for the movie, ran on London Underground and on poster sites around the capital. It showed a close-up image of a female figure with a mummified appearance and one eye swollen shut. She was covered in brown material, including over her head which was inscribed with ancient-looking symbols.
The ad included text that stated, “Some things are meant to stay buried”, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy”, “in cinemas April 17”.
The posters were the subject of 28 of the 30 complaints about the campaign, the vast majority over whether they were suitable for display in an untargeted medium. Six complainants believed the posters were distressing, particularly to individuals who had lost a child and in the context of ongoing global conflicts, and also challenged whether the ads were irresponsible and likely to cause serious and widespread offence.
In its defence, Warner Bros stated the campaign had been prepared with “due responsibility to consumers and society” and was not designed to create fear or offence.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority was having none of it. In its ruling it said that “the grey and ashen appearance of the skin, the dry and cracked lips and mouth, one eye swollen shut and the other fixed and vacant, together with the sunken and lifeless appearance of the face, gave a realistic impression of a dead child”.
Moreover being displayed in an untargeted medium the posters had the potential to be seen by a large number of people, including children. The ASA did acknowledge that Warner Bros said that the ads were not placed within 100 metres of any schools but the watchdog understood that the ad was visible from a children’s nursery.
The regulator concluded: “We considered the image was likely to distress young children and that it was unsuitable for display where it was likely to be seen by them. We therefore concluded that the ads were unsuitable for outdoor display and therefore breached the code.”
Complaints regarding TV and live streaming service ads for the film were not upheld by the regulator, as clearance house Clearcast had enforced a post-19:30pm scheduling restriction. Even so, the watchdog warned Warner Bros about future activity.
The ASA also rejected separate complaints about posters and TV ads for another Warner Bros horror film, They Will Kill You.
Around 20 complainants had argued that those ads glamorised violence and knife crime, however, the regulator ruled the imagery was highly stylised and clearly reflected the fictional nature of the film.
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