Sony gets knuckles rapped over violent ads

THE ADVERTISING STANDARDS ASSOCIATION (ASA) told Sony UK it breached its codes by glamorising violence and anti-social behaviour.

The offending ad "had an underlying tone of violence" and the ASA was a little worried that the image of a Croatian called Kovac holding a knife and a gun with the text "You on my side? Listen up, I've killed for less" could be seen to "condone or glamorise violence or anti-social behaviour".

But Sony was cleared of three other complaints, some of which featured a character called Cherry wearing her underwear and another called Plato who had a naked girl astride him. Another ad showed "Lucia" and "Hotdog" wanting to "do it" and asking "where's the money".

The complainants wanted to know whether the use of a word called "ass" was unsuitable in an advert.

"Ass", said the ASA, is used in everyday language. It, said the ASA "was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to adults and that any children who did see the ad were unlikely to be harmed by it."

This is true. The word "ass" is used in the UK to describe a donkey. So is the ASA an ass? Decide for yourself by reading the adjudication here. µ