The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned posters for Lee Cronin's The Mummy film from the London Underground after receiving 30 complaints that they could scare children. The posters depict the body of a mummified child wrapped in brown paper with one eye swollen shut, which parents said could be distressing to both children and adults.
Poster details and complaints
The ad included the text: "Some things are meant to stay buried. Lee Cronin's The Mummy." TV and live streaming service ads showed fleeting scenes of a body being removed from a sarcophagus and a woman who looked distressed as a greying hand with long brittle nails brushed her cheek, ending with the mother saying: "I just want my daughter back."
The ad was cleared by Clearcast with a post-7.30pm scheduling restriction. Many complainants believed the ads were distressing for children and adults.
Warner Bros' defense
Warner Bros said the poster ads had been prepared with "due responsibility to consumers and society," and were not designed to create fear or distress, were not likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and were suitable for display in untargeted media. It explained that the character depicted was a "living mummy" who was returned to her parents as a teenager or young adult, many years after being kidnapped as a child.
Warner Bros argued the posters used a face with a neutral expression and avoided elements of violence, threat or intimidation, intended to reduce any risk of distress. They added that the posters had been submitted to TfL's advertising partner, Global, and had been accepted for display on the London Underground network. The trailer had been designed so that horror themes were implied rather than shown explicitly, with no "jump scares, no violence or gore," and no graphic imagery.
ASA ruling
Upholding complaints about the posters, the ASA said the grey and ashen appearance of the female's skin, the dry and cracked lips and mouth, one eye swollen shut and the other fixed and vacant, together with the sunken and lifeless appearance of the face, gave a realistic impression of a dead child. It added: "Because the figure had recognisable human features, we considered that viewers were likely to understand it as a realistic depiction of a dead child."
The ASA noted that the posters on the London Underground and outdoor billboard had the potential to be seen by a large number of people, including children. It acknowledged that Warner Bros said the ads were not placed within 100 metres of any schools, but understood that the ad was visible from a children's nursery. "In any case, we considered the image was likely to distress young children and that it was unsuitable for display where it was likely to be seen by them. We therefore concluded that the ads were unsuitable for outdoor display and therefore breached the code," the ASA said.
Other film ad cleared
The ASA did not uphold complaints about a TV ad and two posters for another Warner Bros film, They Will Kill You. Some 20 complainants argued that those ads glamorised violence and knife crime, were likely to distress viewers, and were unsuitable for display in untargeted public spaces. However, the ASA found the imagery was highly stylised and clearly reflected the fictional, action-horror nature of the film, and concluded that the post-7.30pm scheduling restriction for the TV ad was sufficient to reduce the likelihood of young children seeing it.
