ASA Adjudication on Sony Pictures Releasing UK

Ad

An internet banner ad for the film Hostel 2 appeared on the 'monstersandcritics' website. The bottom portion of the ad showed a blood-splattered static image of a woman hanging upside down. Text over the image said "Don't look here. It's torture". The top half of the advert featured violent but indistinct images of torture from the film. The final image showed a woman's tied feet hanging upside down and a female voiceover said "Please don't".

Issue

One complainant objected that:

1. the scenes of a woman being tortured caused harm and offence, and

2. the ad was not targeted appropriately because it was accessible to people of all ages.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

1. Sony Pictures Releasing UK (Sony) said the static image was similar to the one used for the film's outdoor poster campaign. They said the image had been approved by the Film Distributor's Association, the body who approved promotional material for all 18 certificate films. Sony argued that user interaction was required with the ad to hear the audio track, and that this could be turned off by the user if necessary. Sony said they did not plan to use the ad again in the future.

2. Sony explained that the media owners who they worked with had the right to refuse an ad if they did not feel it was appropriate for their audience. They said that no concerns had been expressed to them by the media owner, monstersandcritics.com, regarding the suitability of this particular ad. Sony said the ad was placed in relevant editorial content for their targeted adult audience, and that monstersandcritics.com had no specific content for children on its site.  

Monstersandcritics.com said they had not specifically approved the ad for Hostel 2, but that they used an advertising broker who had booked the ad in error. They said they had detailed instructions regarding what ads were acceptable on their site, and that graphic horror ads were not allowed. They explained that the ad had been removed from the site within 24 hours of the error being discovered.

Assessment

1. & 2. Not upheld

The ASA noted Sony's argument that the static image had been approved by the Film Distributor's Association, and that the image was similar to that used for the outdoor poster campaign. We also noted that Sony had targeted the ad at an adult audience, and that the monstersandcritics website did not contain content specifically targeted at children. We acknowledged that the ad had been placed on monstersandcritics.com by error and had been promptly withdrawn. Although we understood that some people might find the ad distasteful, we recognised that it was representative of the film's adult nature. We also recognised that the ad illustrated those adult themes without directly showing the film's more violent content. Because of that, and because we considered the website had an adult audience who would understand the adult context of the film, we concluded that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or be harmful to children.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 5.1 (Decency - serious or widespread offence), 9.1 (Fear and distress) and 47.2 (Children) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)