Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Ad Banned for Offensive Joke
▼ Summary
– A live-action ad for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been banned from re-airing in the UK by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) for trivializing sexual violence.
– The banned ad, part of a comical “Replacers” series, depicted airport security personnel subjecting a passenger to humiliating and invasive procedures.
– The ASA ruled that the ad’s humor was generated by the “humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration,” which is associated with sexual violence.
– The ad must be edited to remove these jokes before it can air again in the UK, and Activision was told to ensure future ads are socially responsible.
– Activision defended the ad as targeting adults with a higher tolerance for irreverent humor, but the ASA concluded it was irresponsible and offensive.
A recent live-action advertisement for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been permanently banned from broadcast in the United Kingdom following a ruling by the country’s Advertising Standards Agency. The ASA determined the commercial made light of serious issues, concluding its content “trivialized sexual violence” and was therefore irresponsible. This decision highlights the ongoing challenges in marketing mature video game content within strict advertising regulations.
The advertisement was part of a long-running series of comedic live-action spots for the Black Ops franchise. These ads feature characters called “Replacers” who take over people’s daily responsibilities so they can play the new game. For this installment, the problematic ad starred actors Peter Stormare and Nikki Glaser as Replacers working an airport security checkpoint. The scenario depicted them detaining a passenger for an exaggerated and invasive screening process.
In the sequence, after the passenger is stopped, Stormare’s character informs him he has been “randomly selected to be manhandled.” Glaser’s character then dons blue gloves and instructs the man to remove all his clothing, announcing, “Time for the puppet show.” The ad culminates with the passenger being told to bite down on a metal detector as the gloved Replacer states she is “going in dry.” The specific language and implied actions formed the core of the complaints.
The advertisement had initially received clearance for broadcast under a classification that prevented it from airing alongside programming for viewers under sixteen. Regulators originally viewed it as a clearly absurd parody with no resemblance to real security procedures. However, the ASA later reviewed nine formal complaints from the public which argued the spot made a joke out of sexual violence.
Upon review, the ASA upheld these complaints. Their ruling acknowledged that most adult viewers would recognize the ad’s intent as humor. However, they stated the problem was that the comedy itself was “generated by the humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration,” an act they directly associated with sexual assault. The agency found that by framing this scenario as entertainment, the advertisement was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offense.
As a result of the ruling, the ad cannot be aired again in its current form. Activision Blizzard must edit the commercial to remove all references deemed to trivialize sexual violence before it could potentially be shown. The ASA also issued a directive to the company, mandating that future advertisements must be “socially responsible and did not cause serious offence.” In its defense, Activision argued the ad was created exclusively for an adult audience for a mature-rated game, asserting that this demographic has a greater tolerance for irreverent and exaggerated humor. The ASA’s decision ultimately prioritized social responsibility over this argument about audience targeting.
(Source: Kotaku)
