Complaints Lead to Changes in FX's The Strain Billboards

[Moeez]

I often feel that people who refer to children are the ones who are least in touch with their own. In this case, however, I agree. We are a captive audience when it comes to highway billboards. We cannot change the channel, we cannot turn them off, and we're NOT going to take a different route over a billboard. And an image like that is the kind that can scar a child for life. I, for one, am still haunted by the "He chose poorly" scene in The Last Crusade.

You have no clue what can scar a kid for life and what can not. Unless if you're going by scientific evidence that such images have led to long-term negative phobias and delusional fears from childhood to adulthood. Did some scene in The Last Crusade have you end up with a mental condition? Would you have been better with a more sanitised childhood? Probably not, so people talking for children before they have a chance to speak up will always bother me.

 

[Seraj33]

I would usually be against such censorship but even I think that billboard is a bit much.

In my opinion it is not so much censorship as it is fixing a pretty stupid desition.
Very many people both young and old find stuff like that bothersome.
Putting it upp on a highway were you HAVE to look at it, is cruel.

 

[Scorpid]

Boycotting a show over a billboard? Yeah, that's not retarded at all.

People need to understand that marketing departments are rarely attached to the creative departments. You're blasting someone's hard work and they most likely have nothing to do with the ads in question.

In the end FX still approves what comes out. But I agree boycott isn't necessary. I mean I understand why FX did it, it doesn't take insane logic to see why they put it up. Its a icky Billboard for a show that has a horror premise. But I would of probably wanted it taken down too but I wouldn't of been pissed enough to boycott the show. Also that show looks pretty sweet btw.

 

[Zeraki]

I'd be more concerned with this as a safety hazard. I could just imagine especially squeamish people seeing that, freaking out and causing an accident. To hell with the children, think of everyone who's driving!

The show still ends up getting free publicity from this story though, so mission accomplished. I honestly have to say I'm interested in learning more about it now.

 

[kael013]

OK, I get that a lot of people are [i/]much[/i] more squeamish than me (being a horror enthusiast and medical personnel), but that is pretty tame. Around where I live we get more disturbing billboards for Halloween haunted houses and I've never heard of anyone complaining about their kids being exposed to them.

Still, I wouldn't have heard about the show without this, so nice publicity stunt.

 

[PirateRose]

They didn't even need the worm in there, people would have complained about the exposure of the eye alone. Eyeballs hold this extra level of ick with the general public. It's funny, cause you see them every day but the idea of merely touching them freaks people out. Working now as a optician, I've watched a person pass out when the doctor tried to pull down their eyelid to get a look. Trying to teach people to put in a contact lens the first time is hell and a lot of people just give up entirely.

I could completely see that imagery causing problems, even car accidents do to the high level of ick factor, the worm just adds to the initial problem.

However, I would like to use this image as an example for people to not wear their contacts longer than recommended. Either the eye skin grows over it and it needs to be cut out, or you get a parasite up under there.

 

[Happiness Assassin]

I hate two things above all else: anything touching an eyeball and worms. Needless to say that the billboard terrifies me.

 

[templar1138a]

I often feel that people who refer to children are the ones who are least in touch with their own. In this case, however, I agree. We are a captive audience when it comes to highway billboards. We cannot change the channel, we cannot turn them off, and we're NOT going to take a different route over a billboard. And an image like that is the kind that can scar a child for life. I, for one, am still haunted by the "He chose poorly" scene in The Last Crusade.

You have no clue what can scar a kid for life and what can not. Unless if you're going by scientific evidence that such images have led to long-term negative phobias and delusional fears from childhood to adulthood. Did some scene in The Last Crusade have you end up with a mental condition? Would you have been better with a more sanitised childhood? Probably not, so people talking for children before they have a chance to speak up will always bother me.

For your information, for many years I had nightmares involving skeletal corpses falling on me or other people. My dad WOULD NOT let me see Temple of Doom. From what clips I've seen from it as an adult, I fully agree with that decision. The horror genre is one that is RARELY intended for kids, and NEVER the gore-heavy variety.

What can scar a kid (or anyone) for life is something that brings about an instinctual reaction of revulsion. A worm sticking out of an eye causes revulsion because worms coming out of bodies are something that our species has associated with rotting corpses for millennia. The revulsion is a form of survival instinct. Corpses mean foul stench, disease, and disfigured bodies that may have been mangled by something dangerous. Corpses also are disturbing to us because they are at the bottom of the uncanny valley for still objects.

And when our conscious minds realize the character isn't necessarily dead, that can make viewing that image even more horrifying because we then imagine the agony of having a worm burrowing into our own eyes.

The main point of this whole debacle is NOT "Think of the children." Childhood trauma is a bullet on the list. The main point is that this show's target audience is relatively small, and the horror genre is generally intolerable to experience for people who aren't into it. And FX put a large, deeply disturbing image where a high number of those people saw it and weren't able to stop seeing it.

 

[camazotz]

As an example of someone who's definitely going to watch this when it comes out, but who also doesn't want these billboards easily visible, I offer up myself: love horror movies, but also have a small child and I'd like to give my son at least a couple more years of "worms in my eyes" free living before our pop culture screws him up.

And for reference: I saw Alien when I was 8 in the theater with my father, who was cool enough to bring me to see that movie. It's why I like horror movies. So if my son wants to see a horror movie of equivalent calibre to Alien when he's 8, I'm cool with that. But right now he's not quite 3, and stuff like a worm going into a person's eye is a very "real" thing to him and honestly not necessary to advertise The Strain. I'm already part of the target audience, I read the book, I can't wait; people who are freaked out by the worm-in-eye picture are not going to see this movie anyway, so just....I don't know.....put something else up that at least meets me halfway to keeping my child's innocence slightly intact for a couple more years while we're on the highway. Seriously....put the worm add on Escapist or something, where I know I and only I will see it, but not somewhere I have no control over; it's gratuitous and unnecessary to put this on a billboard.


And remember: I will see this, I am looking forward to it, I read the book already; but I actually have a child so I also need to think of him. So there ya go.

 

[tzimize]

Personally I find it pretty cool, but I see it could potentially upset a lot of people and I don't blame them really. Looks interesting though, they won a potential viewer here

EDIT: Oh wow!, this is the imagery they're going for in this show!?, holy shit!, they DEFINITELY won a viewer here!

Spoiler: Nightmarish stuff.

EDIT EDIT: Also the trailer looks pretty interesting too!.

Spoiler: Clickity click.

:O

Well, thats settled. I'm gonna have to check that out.

As an example of someone who's definitely going to watch this when it comes out, but who also doesn't want these billboards easily visible, I offer up myself: love horror movies, but also have a small child and I'd like to give my son at least a couple more years of "worms in my eyes" free living before our pop culture screws him up.

Hehe, its funny/sad because its true.

And for reference: I saw Alien when I was 8 in the theater with my father, who was cool enough to bring me to see that movie. It's why I like horror movies.

Wow. My dad brought me to watch Jurassic Park after extreme nagging and I was terrified. I must have been about 10. Its one of the only movies in my life I have closed my eyes from fear. I'm glad he did though, its one of my favorite movies of all time, and the first scenes of the dinosaurs on the island, with the theme music brings a tear to my eye EVERY time.

Also, how the hell did you survive Alien at 8 years old? I remember seeing Aliens @ 12 years old or so, but that was more action heavy and it was NOT at the cinema :O

 

[default]

Fuck no, I don't want to see that shit on my way to work or school. I feel sick and horrible enough every day as it is, I don't need to feel worse. And for the posters here whinging about people boycotting the show, do you really think anyone who was upset by this enough to compain about it would be watching something like that in the first place? There are no lost consumers here.

At the end of the day, do whatever the hell twisted shit you want with your media, but never shove it down my or anyone else's throat or we certainly have a right to get mad.

 

[Erttheking]

Oh come on, how bad could is possible *Sees image* they hung that over a highway!? That's pretty damn freaky! Yeah, I think taking it down is the right thing to do, showing nasty stuff like that on billboards...nah, not a good call.

Also, no, it's not censorship.

 

[jFr[e]ak93]

I thought it was someone getting stabbed in the eye and found it mildly disturbing.
Then I found out it was a worm. I can't look at it now.

OT - It is pretty graphic for an ad. I can certainly see reason for the outcry.

I know aint-smoking ads get grisly sometimes too, but at least those are stating a fact, this isn't.

 

[Moeez]

I often feel that people who refer to children are the ones who are least in touch with their own. In this case, however, I agree. We are a captive audience when it comes to highway billboards. We cannot change the channel, we cannot turn them off, and we're NOT going to take a different route over a billboard. And an image like that is the kind that can scar a child for life. I, for one, am still haunted by the "He chose poorly" scene in The Last Crusade.

You have no clue what can scar a kid for life and what can not. Unless if you're going by scientific evidence that such images have led to long-term negative phobias and delusional fears from childhood to adulthood. Did some scene in The Last Crusade have you end up with a mental condition? Would you have been better with a more sanitised childhood? Probably not, so people talking for children before they have a chance to speak up will always bother me.

For your information, for many years I had nightmares involving skeletal corpses falling on me or other people. My dad WOULD NOT let me see Temple of Doom. From what clips I've seen from it as an adult, I fully agree with that decision. The horror genre is one that is RARELY intended for kids, and NEVER the gore-heavy variety.

What can scar a kid (or anyone) for life is something that brings about an instinctual reaction of revulsion. A worm sticking out of an eye causes revulsion because worms coming out of bodies are something that our species has associated with rotting corpses for millennia. The revulsion is a form of survival instinct. Corpses mean foul stench, disease, and disfigured bodies that may have been mangled by something dangerous. Corpses also are disturbing to us because they are at the bottom of the uncanny valley for still objects.

And when our conscious minds realize the character isn't necessarily dead, that can make viewing that image even more horrifying because we then imagine the agony of having a worm burrowing into our own eyes.

The main point of this whole debacle is NOT "Think of the children." Childhood trauma is a bullet on the list. The main point is that this show's target audience is relatively small, and the horror genre is generally intolerable to experience for people who aren't into it. And FX put a large, deeply disturbing image where a high number of those people saw it and weren't able to stop seeing it.

I don't see any scientific evidence there, just anecdotal. Or any case for childhood trauma leading to serious consequences. I would bring up how I saw horror movies and shows as a kid and it was a cool experience to have, but that's anecdotal too. I'm not going to use that to project worries to others.

The main point of this whole debacle IS "Think of the children" by the protestors.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/the-disgusting-billboard-for-the-strain-is-grossing-out-la

The people just irked by it aren't calling for a boycott of the show or forcing it to be taken down. Even if they are, using "I might crash my car" is stupid because then you'll just prove being a bad driver who needs their license taken away if you're that dangerously easily distracted.

 

[NortherWolf]

Oh yay, it's the Anti-Twilight Principle made into a TV show.
And it has a tasteless and juvenile shock attitude to PR? Le gasp! I am shocked!

I love Del Toro and my sis handed me the first book...It was utter shit. Twilight I can sort of roll my eyes at, this is just groan-inducing. "We don't like them f*ggy vampires! We got zombie demon angel-worm guys!"

 

[MarsProbe]

Deliberately provocative billboard for a tv series is put up in a public place.
Public outcry commences.
Poster is taken down but profile of tv series is raised.
Marketing goal accomplished.

Also, in a way, it's a bit like an extension of telling someone not to do something which will likely make them more determined to do said thing than they were previously. Hearing somebody say they are not going to watch something because is probably going to make you more intrigued to watch the show to see what it's about.

I hadn't heard of this series prior to this article and I'll be tuning in now to see what this show is like. Here's hoping, given that there's a Lost alumni involved, let's hope the fact the setup for this series seems to revolve around an incident with a passenger jet isn't a sign it's going to go the way of Lost as well. Which it won't of course, seeing that del Toro is involved.

Wait for the shock appearance of the pale man. Pan's Labyrinth connection confirmed!

I'll go now.

 

[Whytewulf]

I don't really see the issue. Are people really that squeamish? Seems like everyone is being a bunch of big babies to me.

Everyone has their own tolerance levels.

Agreed. And sadly its not always controllable.

Ot: it did its job. Take it down.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

I don't think the show needs to be boycotted, but I agree it's completely tasteless to string that kind of imagery up on a billboard for public viewing. I mean... ick. Leave that kind of thing for late-night ads or for where people have to search for them.

 

[Viper1265]

I wonder if the guy who put together that billboard has ever heard of a series called "Emerging" or is it just a coincidence that two different medical themed horror series used a very similar image.

Spoiler