Ad description
A pre-roll ad on YouTube, seen on 5 March 2026, for the film Scary Movie (2026) included a scene featuring a masked individual on a train stabbing another individual with a knife. Another scene featured a woman holding two sex toys, jabbing an individual in between their legs with one of the sex toys. Another scene featured various children holding severed limbs, including a small girl holding severed testicles stating “What the f***” with the last word being censored.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad was distressing and offensive in the context in which it appeared.
Response
Paramount Pictures UK (Paramount) stated that the ad was the official trailer for Scary Movie which had received a British Board of Film Classification “15” rating before being shown. They said the film was a comedy and part of a franchise known for parodying well-known horror films through absurd humour which may be seen by some as slapstick, offensive or crass. Paramount also highlighted that the ad had generated more than 16 million impressions across YouTube and social media platforms between 3 and 10 March 2026, and that only one complaint had been received. They considered that indicated most viewers were unlikely to have been seriously offended by the ad’s humour.
Paramount said they had targeted the ad only at adults aged 18 to 64 years. They explained it was served exclusively to logged-in users whose account details showed they were aged 18 or over, and that they were not aware of any instance in which it had been served to under-18s. They also said they had applied interest-based targeting to users likely to be receptive to the content, including the filters “movie lovers”, “comedy film fans”, and users interested in Scary Movie, the Scream franchise and related cast members. They also applied video-level exclusion filters to avoid placement next to unsuitable content and noted that the ad was skippable after five seconds with none of the complained-of scenes appearing within that opening period.
Paramount stated the scenes complained about were taken directly from the film and accurately reflected its comedic and exaggerated tone. In relation to the train stabbing scene, they believed it was clearly parodic, with no blood, visible knife penetration or realistic reaction from the victim, and that the focus was more on a separate joke that was part of that scene. They also said the attacker’s exaggerated movements reinforced the comic tone.
In relation to the sex toy scene, Paramount said most viewers would see it as crude slapstick humour typical of the franchise. They said the sex toys were exaggerated in size and used in a fantastical fight sequence, and that although the scene contained sexual references, it did not depict humiliation, threat or pain.
Regarding the scene showing a girl holding severed testicles, Paramount said viewers would understand it as exaggerated and comedic, featuring a horror character dressed as Father Christmas distributing unrealistic severed body parts in a Christmas grotto while inattentive parents ignored their children. They said the humour derived from the absurdity of the situation and argued that the body parts were clearly unrealistic in both size and appearance.
Paramount accepted that some viewers might find the humour distasteful but considered the ad unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or fear and distress because the scenes were exaggerated, non-realistic and presented in a clearly comic context. They also said they had acted responsibly by targeting the ad at a mature audience likely to be interested in that type of content.
Assessment
Not upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence and must not cause fear or distress without justifiable reason.
The ASA understood that the ad, for a film with a 15 rating, had been targeted using interest-based filters to logged-in users between 18 and 64 years. In addition, Paramount had applied exclusions in relation to the placement of the ad, which included users interested in Scary Movie, the Scream franchise and related cast members, along with video-level exclusion filters. Also, the ad was skippable after five seconds, with none of the complained-of scenes appearing within that opening period. We considered that some of the interest-based filters used, including “movie lovers” and “comedy movie fans”, were broad. However, the ad was for a well-known and recognisable horror comedy franchise and that the content was presented in an exaggerated and parodic style. We considered those factors were relevant to viewers’ likely expectations and to the overall impact of the scenes complained about.
We first considered the scene on the train where a masked individual stabbed another person with a knife. We acknowledged that the scene did not include blood, visible knife penetration or a realistic reaction from the victim. We further noted that the focus was the exchange which followed the attack. We therefore considered the attack was not depicted in a realistic or graphic way, and that the reactions of the victim and those around them were exaggerated rather than lifelike.
We next assessed the scene in which a woman held two sex toys and jabbed one between a masked character’s legs during a fight sequence. Although we acknowledged that some viewers might find the scene distasteful, we considered that it was brief, stylised and clearly presented as part of an exaggerated slapstick fight sequence. We also considered that the masked character, who was clothed, was established as the aggressor, and that the woman’s actions were likely to be understood as an act of self-defence within that fight, rather than as sexually motivated. The masked character’s reaction was cartoonish rather than realistic, and the scene did not depict nudity, injury or lasting harm. In that context, we considered viewers overall were unlikely to interpret the scene as a realistic depiction of sexual violence.
We finally considered the scene where children were shown holding severed body parts given as presents by Father Christmas. That included a young girl holding severed testicles and saying “What the f***”. We acknowledged that the scene included gory imagery and strong language, which some viewers could find distasteful or offensive. However, we considered that the setting was highly unrealistic, the tone was absurd and comedic and the presentation was consistent with the exaggerated horror-comedy style of the film. We also noted that the word “f***” was partially obscured and that the scene was brief.
The ad contained scenes of stylised violence, crude humour and gory imagery that some viewers might find the ad distasteful. However, those scenes were brief, exaggerated and clearly presented in the context of a horror-comedy film trailer for a well-known and long running franchise. We also considered that the targeting and placement controls used reduced the likelihood of the ad being served to viewers more likely to be unjustifiably distressed or seriously offended by such content. We therefore concluded that, in the context in which the ad appeared, it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence, or unjustified fear or distress.
We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 4.1 and 4.2 (Harm and offence), but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
