An advert for the upcoming PlayStation 2 game, Burnout: Dominator from EA, has been labelled as 'irresponsible' by the Advertising Standards Authority here in the UK.
The advert in question was the subject of thirty-seven complaints and features a crashed car under the slogan 'Inner peace through outer violence'. An ASA spokesperson said of the advert;
"The complainants described the advert as offensive as it condoned and was likely to encourage violence, dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour such as vandalism... The Advertising Standards Authority determined that the implication of the advertisement was likely to cause serious or widespread offence."
EA has, as reported by GameIndustry, decided to withdraw and redesign the advert in order to please the ASA, who have kindly (and somewhat patronisingly) offered advice in the matter of designing national adverts.
To us, it seems a little pointless to kick up such a fuss for an advert for a game which was released last spring on a system which is now a generation out of date - but then again, the advert doesn't seem that bad to us when you consider some of the other advertising mistakes which other companies have made in the past.
The advert recall comes just a week after the BBFC banned the multi-format Manhunt 2 from being released in the UK, citing " sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged" as the main reason for the ban.
Is the recall of this advert another sign of a growing nanny culture, or is it reasonable to recall an advert which causes offence to a minority? Make your mind up and tell us your conclusions in our forums.
The advert in question was the subject of thirty-seven complaints and features a crashed car under the slogan 'Inner peace through outer violence'. An ASA spokesperson said of the advert;
"The complainants described the advert as offensive as it condoned and was likely to encourage violence, dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour such as vandalism... The Advertising Standards Authority determined that the implication of the advertisement was likely to cause serious or widespread offence."
EA has, as reported by GameIndustry, decided to withdraw and redesign the advert in order to please the ASA, who have kindly (and somewhat patronisingly) offered advice in the matter of designing national adverts.
To us, it seems a little pointless to kick up such a fuss for an advert for a game which was released last spring on a system which is now a generation out of date - but then again, the advert doesn't seem that bad to us when you consider some of the other advertising mistakes which other companies have made in the past.
The advert recall comes just a week after the BBFC banned the multi-format Manhunt 2 from being released in the UK, citing " sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged" as the main reason for the ban.
Is the recall of this advert another sign of a growing nanny culture, or is it reasonable to recall an advert which causes offence to a minority? Make your mind up and tell us your conclusions in our forums.
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