ASA Adjudication on Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd

Ad

A TV ad for the DVD of the film ‘Wanted’ showed the actress Angelina Jolie driving a car in a chase. A male voice-over stated “The coolest movie of the year. ‘Wanted’, on DVD … ”. A hand was then shown holding a gun; Angelina Jolie subsequently held a gun outstretched and fired a bullet towards the viewer. A female voice stated “Welcome to the fraternity”. There were further chase scenes before Angelina Jolie was shown instructing the actor James McAvoy: “I want you to curve the bullet. Shoot the target”; he then fired shots. On-screen text showed quotations from press reviews of the film and corresponded with the voice-over, which stated “Bone-crunchingly brilliant” and “Angelina is blazingly sexy”. She was shown from the back and appeared to be naked aside from the towel she held around her middle. Both actors were then shown kissing each other before action scenes featured each holding guns and shooting. A bullet, which had just been fired, moved into the frame and was inscribed with “WANTED”; the voice-over stated “Hunt it down. On DVD Monday”.

Issue

One viewer objected that the ad:

1. glamorised the use of guns, and

2. was not suitable to be shown at 9 am on a Sunday morning, when children were likely to be watching.

BCAP TV Code

BCAP TV Scheduling Code

Response

1. Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd (Universal) said the film was based on a comic book, in which superhuman heroes lived in a fantastical world; that was reflected in the fantastical nature of the ad, which also made reference to the Wanted comic book.  They said the line "The coolest movie of the year" had also been used in other ads that included guns and high speed chases, without complaint.  

Universal said ads for many other action films, which had strong male leads, had not been complained about.  They believed some people did not like to see a woman in a strong lead role and that was the reason they objected to the ad, rather than because they had concerns about violence. Universal said they had adhered to all guidelines and the ad did not contain any material that was less suitable than that in other ads broadcast during the past three years.

Clearcast said the film was not set in a gritty, realistic urban setting but was based on a graphic novel about a group of people with special powers; the offer of a limited edition comic book in the ad further demonstrated that the film was not linked with reality.  They said the voice-over "The coolest movie of the year" was used during a driving scene and was not directly associated with a gun.  They stated that although Angelina Jolie held a gun on three different occasions, viewers did not know where the gun was pointed; they also did not see any bloodshed or death.  Clearcast believed the scene where James McAvoy was instructed to curve a bullet was so unrealistic that it did not glamorise the use of guns.  They said guns were permitted to be shown in ads for films. They felt viewers were aware of that and would draw the distinction between guns in a fantasy setting and in a more realistic depiction of crime in an urban setting.  They did not believe the ad encouraged or glamorised the use of guns.   

2. Universal said the ad automatically received an ex-kids rating because the film had an 18 certificate; it was decided it did not require any further restriction because it did not contain anything contentious or anything that had not previously been approved for TV.  They said they could not ultimately control what children watched however it was not financially viable for them to advertise an 18 rated film during any programme where the viewer would be unable to buy it.     Universal said the ad was not broadcast during programming targeted at children and, in any case, it had been shown that children tended to self-censor what they watched so it was unlikely they would have seen the ad if it was broadcast during a programme with adult themes.  They believed the ad had been given the correct timing restriction.

Clearcast said they considered the content of the ad was not suitable for younger children but the ex-kids timing restriction would be sufficient to prevent that audience being upset and to prevent the ad causing serious or widespread offence.  They said the ad had caused only one complaint.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted the ad was intended to depict a film with a fantastical setting and a strong female lead.    We noted it depicted several guns being fired by both the male and female leads and considered that, in conjunction with the on-screen text and voice-over that stated "Angelina is blazingly sexy" and "The coolest movie of the year" the overall impression was that using guns was sexy and glamorous.  We concluded the ad could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns.

On this point the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 6.2 (Violence and cruelty) and 7.4.1 (Mental harm).

2. Upheld

We noted the ad had been given an ex-kids restriction, which could help prevent young children from seeing it.  We were concerned however that it was also inappropriate to be seen by older children because it could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns.  We concluded that the ex-kids restriction was insufficient.

On this point the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 7.4.1 (Mental harm) and 7.4.7 (Use of scheduling restrictions) and TV Scheduling Code rule 4.2.3 (Treatments unsuitable for children).

Action

The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)