{"id":5549,"date":"2026-08-05T12:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2026-08-05T12:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:08:19","slug":"the-mummy-poster-ads-banned-from-london-underground-after-advertising-watchdog-cites-distressing-imagery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5549","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Mummy\u2019 Poster Ads Banned From London Underground After Advertising Watchdog Cites \u2018Distressing\u2019 Imagery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe U.K. Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that outdoor poster ads for \u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy\u201d breached its code by presenting an image that gave \u201ca realistic impression of a dead child,\u201d while clearing companion TV and streaming spots for the same campaign.<\/p>\n

Read more Disney Streaming Profit Doubles in June Quarter, Company Shifting Consumer Products to Studios Division<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe ASA investigated four issues stemming from several complaints about ads for the Warner Bros Entertainment U.K. Ltd. cinema release, seen in April this year. The regulator upheld one complaint and rejected the other three in a ruling published Aug. 5.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe ASA received 30 complaints, many of whom believed the ads were distressing for children and adults,\u201d the ASA said.<\/p>\n

\n\tPosters on the London Underground and at outdoor sites showed a close-up of a mummified female figure with grey, ashen skin, cracked lips and one eye swollen shut, wrapped in material resembling a shroud and inscribed with hieroglyphic-style symbols.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ASA said the figure\u2019s features gave \u201ca realistic impression of a dead child\u201d and that the material wrapped around her added to that impression. Because the posters ran in untargeted locations, including on the London Underground and at a site visible from a children\u2019s nursery, the regulator concluded the imagery was likely to distress young children who saw it. It ruled the posters unsuitable for outdoor display in that form, finding them in breach of CAP Code rules 1.3 and 4.2.<\/p>\n

\n\tWarner Bros. had argued the poster\u2019s neutral expression, open eye and absence of a sarcophagus or restraints were deliberate choices meant to reduce distress, and noted the studio\u2019s outdoor buying policy of keeping horror titles at least 100 metres from schools \u2013 a standard that does not extend to nurseries.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ASA ordered that the poster ads \u201cmust not appear in the form complained of\u201d and directed Warner Bros. to keep future marketing likely to frighten young children away from places where they would see it.<\/p>\n

Read more Prateek Kuhad to Make Feature Film Acting Debut in Marginal MediaWorks, D36 and Jugaad\u2019s \u2018Drowning,\u2019 Directed by Dar Gai (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe ruling cited BCAP Code rules 1.2, 4.1, 4.10, 5.1 and 32.3, and CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3, 4.1 and 4.2.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ASA rejected a separate complaint that the posters trivialized child loss or ongoing global conflicts, finding that text identifying the image as promotion for a film provided sufficient context, even if some viewers found it distasteful.<\/p>\n

\nVariety<\/em> has reached out to Warner Bros. Discovery for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe campaign also included a TV ad and a matching Prime Video ad depicting a family receiving a call about a daughter who had gone missing eight years earlier, with the father questioning what she was doing in a 3000-year-old sarcophagus. On-screen text read, \u201cSome Things Are Meant to Stay Buried.\u201d Both ran with a post-7:30 p.m. scheduling restriction cleared by Clearcast.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ASA found the TV and streaming ads were unlikely to cause serious distress and that their scheduling restrictions were sufficient to limit exposure to young children, rejecting complaints that they should have been kept off air later or targeted more precisely on Prime Video. It also noted Clearcast\u2019s data showing an average children\u2019s index of 31 across the TV placements \u2013 well below the industry baseline of 100 that represents typical child viewership, indicating the actual child audience was low. No further action was required for the TV and streaming ads.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLee Cronin\u2019s The Mummy\u201d released in the U.K. on April 17 and grossed $2.9 million. <\/p>\n

Read more Disney Streaming Profit Doubles in June Quarter, Company Shifting Consumer Products to Studios Division<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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