ASA Adjudication on Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for the DVD of the '18' rated film 'The Hills Have Eyes 2', showed images from the film; a voice over and on-screen text stated "TWICE THE TERROR DOUBLE THE FEAR". The ad went on to show a woman screaming and then saying "get me out of here please" and "oh my God". People were shown shooting guns and a man was shown with a large weapon attempting to attack someone whilst shouting "Die"; a woman was shown crawling away before being dragged back. The ad ended with a monster licking a woman's face.

The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) applied a post 9pm restriction to the ad.

Issue

The ASA received five complaints.

1. Three of the five viewers challenged whether the ad was distressing, offensive and inappropriate to be shown on TV.

2. Two of the five viewers, who had seen the ad before 9 pm, challenged whether the ad was too graphic to be shown at that time, especially because it might have been seen by children.

BCAP TV Code

BCAP TV Scheduling Code

Response

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) said the ad would not be broadcast again. They asserted that it had been cleared with a post 9 pm restriction by the BACC.

Creative Partnership said they had followed guidance from the BACC when creating the ad. They pointed out that the ad was for a horror film and the content of the film was therefore reflected in the ad and was the reason it was given a post 9 pm restriction. They asserted that the ad made clear it was for a DVD and viewers would therefore be aware the ad was fictitious. They said the instructions they gave all stations stated the ad should be shown after 9 pm.

The BACC said they had cleared several ads for the DVD and decided this particular ad should be given a post 9 pm restriction. They believed that restriction would be sufficient to keep it away from young children who might find the tone of the ad upsetting or frightening. They said they regularly cleared film trailers of a similar nature and rarely received complaints.

Paramount Comedy and VH1, both of which had shown the ad before 9 pm on 26 and 27 July, gave a joint response. They apologised for any distress and offence that had been caused to viewers.  They said they had anticipated the ad would be given a post 7.30 pm restriction but became aware of the BACCs post 9 pm restriction on 26 July. They said, however, they had not acted upon that restriction because of confusion resulting from their office move the previous weekend and the implementation of a new sales system.  This oversight was realised on 30 July and  they immediately amended the schedules to reflect the post 9 pm restriction applied by the BACC. They argued that the circumstances that led to their error were very unusual and said they would ensure further checks were imposed in the future.  

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad had been given a post 9 pm restriction by the BACC to minimise any distress for younger viewers. We considered that, although the ad included some violent images, including a man with alarge weapon attempting to attack someone, a woman being dragged and another woman apparently being held against her will, those images were not excessively graphic and were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to viewers after 9 pm. We understood that the images in the ad might upset some viewers; however, we considered that most viewers would be aware that more adult material was likely to be broadcast after 9 pm. We therefore concluded that the post 9 pm restriction was sufficient and that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or harm to viewers when scheduled at this time.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 6.1 (Offence), 6.4 (Personal distress) and 7.4.7 (Children - Use of scheduling restrictions) and CAP (Broadcast) Rules on the Scheduling of TV Advertisements 4.2.3 (Particular separation of advertisements and programmes - Treatments unsuitable for children) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We noted both VH1 and Paramount had shown the ad before the 9 pm restriction applied by the BACC. We considered that the content of the ad was unsuitable to be shown at times when younger children might be viewing as it could frighten them or cause them distress. We therefore considered it inappropriate for the ad to be broadcast before 9 pm when we recognised that some younger children might still be watching television.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) Rules on the Scheduling of TV Advertisements 4.2.3 (Treatments unsuitable for children).

Action

We told the broadcasters to take more care when scheduling ads and when applying the BACCs clearance guidance.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)