U.K. Bans PlayStation Move Ad for Being Too Violent

[Maze1125]

That aside I think they might have got away with it if it wasn't for the smile. The last person I saw getting that much joy out of violence was the fucking Scorpio Killer in Dirty Harry.

Exactly, it doesn't matter that there's not even the slightest bit of gore. The problem is that the guy is clearly attacking the other guy in a very joyful manner and the advert as a whole is implying that that is an okay thing to do.

There is absolutely no way in hell I should walk my children into town and find that there for them to look at and get ideas from.

 

[Kazaazz]

As I am from the UK, I note the reasonableness behind this ban. Agreed that defnitely gives the wrong impression, as I thought it was for a Street Fighter game on first glance. (somehow)

But as for it being overly violent, I'm iffy. It's not REALLY. I just think it's not suitable for the kids that may be looking at in the shops. They may I dunno, want to break something with it.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

The United Kingdom bans something else for being too 'graphic'.
Oh. There's a surprise.

PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Wait...You're serious?

And you're sure you meant to say "Kingdom" instead of "States"?

Oh...

Now I'm just confused. I was implying that political correctness has the UK by the balls.

And you'd be right. Hell, we're not even allowed to say 'brain storm' anymore...

Really? I thought that was just the Daily Mail being sensationalist again.

From what I can see it seem's kinda half and half...people you could call academics tend to point it out, but not in an actual caring way, just because they seem to feel obligated to do so. I don't think anyone really takes that one seriously to be honest (Read: I hope).

 

[Treblaine]

It's an ugly looking poster anyway.

Ineffective too, it's technically violent without giving any potent indication of the violence which is the game's selling point.

OT: I think only OBSCENE violence should be prohibited from advertising, this model of "handful of complaints" is anti-democratic as it caters only to the vocal minority.

The complaints trigger an investigation and the agency then look into the merits of the complaint, it isn't an automatic system.
People do like to assume

When it comes to government they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt, I think my assumptions of oppressive nannyism are safer than your assumptions of benevolent paternalism.

I quite frankly don't trust them in this scenario. They SAW this ad before, they had time to assess it, what does it change to have a few incredibly minority and self-selected options shown to them?

You are stating the De Jure procedure, I am suggesting the De Facto procedure is the ASA merely use these trivial complaints as a pretext to impose their own personal morals on the wider public.

 

[Treblaine]

That aside I think they might have got away with it if it wasn't for the smile. The last person I saw getting that much joy out of violence was the fucking Scorpio Killer in Dirty Harry.

Exactly, it doesn't matter that there's not even the slightest bit of gore. The problem is that the guy is clearly attacking the other guy in a very joyful manner and the advert as a whole is implying that that is an okay thing to do.

There is absolutely no way in hell I should walk my children into town and find that there for them to look at and get ideas from.

Joyful eh? So if he had an angry/enraged expression then it would be all right?

Can that not lead to the perverse scenario where play-fighting is banned but more realistic violence is permitted? I mean to people smiling and hitting each other with foam hammers, technically violent, no one is getting visibly hurt.

>implying it is an OK thing to do

WHOA! What this poster is very clearly play fighting, the goon is mugging like a slapstick stooge, this is saying fantasy violence is all right.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I can see why there were a couple complaints, but there's really no reason to ban it.

 

[Danpascooch]

Eight complaints may not sound like many but as the ASA points out on its website, it has the power to act even on just one

Sure you CAN, but does that mean you necessarily should? Hell no. I hate all this Pseudo-racism that spawns from overcompensating for real racism, I'd call it racist, but then I'd be contributing to it.

Seriously though, the smile on the guys face as he's about to punch the other guy is so hilariously stupid.

 

[RelexCryo]

This seems overly strict to me, but I guess it does violate their rule.

#4.4
Marketing communications must contain nothing that is likely to condone or encourage violence or anti-social behaviour,

I don't see it as encouraging violence, but I could see how someone else could.
Still, makes me wonder if they are this strict on other advertisements as well.

Technically, this would make any conceivable advertisement to join the military in Britain illegal. Or does this rule only apply to private bussinesses?

What I find really wierd about Marketing Communication laws in Britain, is that it is illegal for T.V. Shows to be made about toys that started as a toy line rather than starting as a T.V. show and becoming a Toy Line.

Seriously, why the hell would you need a law like that?

 

[VondeVon]

It's really nice to know that Australia isn't the only country suffering from hyper-sensitivity to game-related issues.

 

[dragontiers]

This seems overly strict to me, but I guess it does violate their rule.

#4.4
Marketing communications must contain nothing that is likely to condone or encourage violence or anti-social behaviour,

I don't see it as encouraging violence, but I could see how someone else could.
Still, makes me wonder if they are this strict on other advertisements as well.

Technically, this would make any conceivable advertisement to join the military in Britain illegal. Or does this rule only apply to private bussinesses?

I'm not sure if the military gets some sort of free pass or not, but they could probably do something more subtle, like have a poster of someone in dress uniform standing at attention with a caption like "Your country depends on you" or something. As long as they don't show something violent or make it seem like violence is the end goal, they could probably get away with it.

 

[Sixcess]

Technically, this would make any conceivable advertisement to join the military in Britain illegal. Or does this rule only apply to private bussinesses?

I'm not sure if the military gets some sort of free pass or not, but they could probably do something more subtle, like have a poster of someone in dress uniform standing at attention with a caption like "Your country depends on you" or something. As long as they don't show something violent or make it seem like violence is the end goal, they could probably get away with it.

British Army recruitment ads invariably focus on comradeship and personal development, with weapons being shown in the context of being used to protect - yourself, your squad and/or civilians.

I've never seen any that suggest violence should be the first option - quite the reverse, as this one shows...
<youtube=BG1lUd5-sz4>
(Lousy youtube quality, but it's a clever ad.)

 

[emeraldrafael]

It seems like Britain is trying to get rid of any fun in the country.

You cant riot, you might not be able to look at porn without getting on a list, and now you cnat even look at ads like those. I mean, are they going to ban any boxing games at all cause it would encourage violence or will they just make it... well.. whatever their M rating is over there.

 

[katsumoto03]

[HEADING=1]What?! A game on a motion control platform that looks somewhat fun? Sacrebleu![/HEADING]

No. This isn't graphic. Violent, maybe, but definitely not graphic.


Stop being retarded UK.

 

[dragontiers]

Technically, this would make any conceivable advertisement to join the military in Britain illegal. Or does this rule only apply to private bussinesses?

I'm not sure if the military gets some sort of free pass or not, but they could probably do something more subtle, like have a poster of someone in dress uniform standing at attention with a caption like "Your country depends on you" or something. As long as they don't show something violent or make it seem like violence is the end goal, they could probably get away with it.

British Army recruitment ads invariably focus on comradeship and personal development, with weapons being shown in the context of being used to protect - yourself, your squad and/or civilians.

I've never seen any that suggest violence should be the first option - quite the reverse, as this one shows...
<youtube=BG1lUd5-sz4>
(Lousy youtube quality, but it's a clever ad.)

I think that is a lot better than most of the ads we get here in the USA. Ours are either some weird metaphorical ones (guy climbs mountain, sword fights a dragon, then transforms into a US Marine in dress uniform), pep rally types (some pop song playing over shots of army tanks, soldiers moving in groups, and airplanes with the tag "Army of One"), or sci-fi -ish (people in some control room, all dressed in black, maneuver a satellite out danger from incoming debris, screen changes to them in army uniforms, some tag line about the future being now). I like the idea of one that actually shows an example of some legitimate skills they teach you. That one would have actually gotten my interest, if I was still the target audience. Ours don't attract me at all, and never did.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

lol Wow. Now that's dumb.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

Heh. Saw that in the latest issue of EDGE. It probably wasn't going to run for that long anyway.