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Stranglehold Ad Banned in UK

By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

The UK Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a TV ad for Midway's "Stranglehold" cannot be shown on British television because the ad encourages and promotes violence. The decision was prompted by two consumer complaints.

The ad had been carefully prepared so that it did not depict bullets hitting anyone (since the game is associated with John Woo and his "bullet ballet" style of action, there's no question that it features plenty of bullets), and had been pre-cleared by the British NGO which approves ads (the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre). Nonetheless, the ASA felt that the ad's voice-over (which read "Honour is his code. Vengeance is his mission. Violence is his only option. John Woo presents Stranglehold. The next generation of action gaming has arrived.") suggested that revenge was honourable and that violence was an acceptable option.

Coverage at 1UP and Game Politics.

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Full post as published by Video Game Law Blog on January 28, 2008 (boomark / email).