ASA Adjudication on Valve Corporation

Ad

An ad, for the console game ‘Left 4 Dead 2’, appeared as a video on two large screens in a London train station. It included animated action sequences that showed zombies and humans as well as explosions. Some of the characters pointed guns, another was shown starting a chainsaw and another held an axe; an image of a thumbless hand was also shown. Text on screen stated “YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS … vs 10 MILLION ZOMBIES … THEY’RE GONNA NEED MORE ZOMBIES”.

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad:

1. was likely to cause distress and offence, and

2. was inappropriate for display where it could be seen by children.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Valve Corporation (Valve) said the ad was shown at that train station for only two weeks and would not appear again. They said it was an oversight that the ad was placed without taking into account targeting.

Titan, who were the owners of the screens, said the ad had been reviewed in accordance with their standard practice; they believed the ad was unlikely to cause offence and therefore it was approved for use. They said the ad had appeared without sound, which they believed reduced the likelihood of it being perceived as unnecessarily aggressive. They said they had not received any complaints directly.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad was animated and appeared without sound. Although it included weapons and some violence, we noted the action was clearly not realistic and considered an adult audience was likely to understand it reflected the content of a fictional action game. We acknowledged that some consumers might object to the content of the ad but concluded that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or distress.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising), 5.1 and 5.2 (Decency) and 9.1 (Fear and distress) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld

We noted the ad included images of explosions and that some of the characters pointed guns, or held chainsaws or an axe; it also included images of zombies and of a thumbless hand. We noted it was also animated and stated "YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ... ", which we considered meant it was also likely to engage the attention of children. For those reasons, and because it showed some violence and scenes involving weapons or shooting, we considered it was unsuitable for children and irresponsible to place the ad in an untargeted medium where it could be seen by children. We concluded that the ad was unsuitable for display where it could be seen by children.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Valve to ensure their ads were appropriately targeted in future.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)