ASA ban violent YouTube ad
A violent advert for the critically derided film Abduction, given an impressive 4% by Rotten Tomatoes, has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The Taylor Lautner vehicle, star of the Twilight series, was pulled after complaints it had been shown alongside animations aimed at very young children.
Scenes of shooting, punching, kicking and kissing from the 12A rated flick were shown, content which the ASA deemed to be inappropriate for young children.
The film’s producer, Lionsgate UK, had argued that it reasonably expected viewers to be aged 13 or above because YouTube stresses it should only be accessed by people in this age bracket.
Dismissing this defence the ASA noted that YouTube does not enforce its own policy.
In a statement the ASA said: “We considered the 'The Duck Song' clip during which the ad appeared, was likely to appeal to children and noted the ad was served in such a way that it could be viewed by all YouTube users.
“Because it included scenes that were unsuitable for younger children and it could be viewed by all YouTube users, we considered the ad was inappropriately targeted. We therefore concluded that it breached the [advertising] code".