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ASA Halloween

‘Distressing’ Halloween ad featuring satanic clown is banned

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 25, 2015 | 1 min read

A gory poster campaign featuring images of a demonic clown advertising a family park have been pulled after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the depiction made children ‘very distressed’.

Halloween, primevil

Dinosaur Adventure in Norfolk used the depiction to promote its themed PrimEvil event with the blood-font tagline ‘Screaming won’t help! Five frightening attractions! 13 nights of terror!’ In the background lurked a leering figure in a clown costume, replete with blood soaked overalls, red eyes and a stitched face.

Following complaints from parents the park initially removed 12 of its 34 posters which had been placed close to where children might gather but has now been banned from displaying any such posters in their present form.

In its adjudication the ASA remarked: “We noted that the clown was leaning towards the camera and grinning with a menacing expression, that its eyes glowed red and blood dripped down its face, and that its eyes and forehead were stitched.

“We considered the ad was likely to cause fear or distress without justifiable reason when displayed in an untargeted medium, and concluded that it had been irresponsibly targeted.”

ASA Halloween

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