Scream Day, on 24 April this year, promotes the benefits of screaming to release pent up pressure and anxiety. Ads that elicit screams from the public might very well breach the Advertising Code and the ASA has investigated many complaints that horror themed ads cause fear and distress that is not justified.
Ads for horror products or ads that contain horror themes should be responsibly targeted; that means being aware of who might see them, especially if it might include children. A poster for a horror-themed Halloween event was shown in a high street. The poster showed a character with rotting flesh and a head wound. The ASA concluded that because the image was likely to distress young children, and had been displayed where children could see it, the ad breached the Code. But complaints about TV and poster ads for the film “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” were not upheld. The TV ad was subject to restrictions meaning it could not be shown before 7.30pm or around programmes directed at or with appeal to under 16s. The posters, while in an untargeted medium, contained imagery that, although gory, was not found to be violent or threatening, and so none of the ads breached the Code.
Some ads are so horrific in content that whether they are targeted away from children or not, they will still be a problem. A collaboration between a YouTuber and virtual private network (VPN) led to upheld complaints about two separate ads: here and here. The ads included overt scenes of violence, including a man being punched in the face, stabbed in the leg and tasered around the neck and showed him smashing a glass in another man’s face. In both cases the ASA concluded that the level of violence in the ad would cause distress to viewers, regardless of age, without a justifiable reason. A cinema ad shown around 15 rated films or above used horror tropes, including showing a sinister man taking a baby from a cot in front of its mother. The ad, for a vegan campaign group, was intended to draw a symbolic comparison between human and calf separation from their mothers. Despite the campaigning message, the ASA ruled that the intention of the ad did not justify the distress likely to be caused by the approach, in particular to vulnerable audiences, and concluded the ad, despite its placement restrictions, was irresponsible and likely to cause unjustified distress and serious and widespread offence.
Other horror themed ads have managed to stay the right side of the line. A poster, for the film Black Phone, was seen at four bus stops across the UK. It featured a figure wearing a grey mask with a distorted nose and chin and a broad malevolent grin showing lots of teeth. The complainants challenged whether the image, along with the text “NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS”, was suitable for outdoor display. The ASA acknowledged that while the image was sinister, the ad did not include overtly bloody, gory, violent or threatening imagery and did not uphold the complaints. Complaints about another billboard for horror themed Halloween event, were also not upheld. The ad featured a man in a pig mask with oversized fangs and the text “I’LL SEE YOU IN YOUR NIGHTMARES” and “NORFOLKS [sic] BIGGEST SCARE EXPERIENCE … PRIMEVIL …SCREAMING WON’T HELP”. While we acknowledged it could be upsetting for some children, there was no overtly violent or threating imagery and it was unlikely to be considered realistic.
If you’re not sure where to draw the line with your horror ads, check with our Copy Advice team, so you don’t cause more of a shock than you’d bargained for.
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