‘The Mummy’ Posters Pulled From London Underground Over Distressing Imagery
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that outdoor posters for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy breached its advertising code […]
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that outdoor posters for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy breached its advertising code after determining the campaign presented “a realistic impression of a dead child,” while clearing the film’s TV and streaming ads, reports Variety.
The ASA investigated four issues following several complaints about the Warner Bros. Entertainment U.K. campaign, which promoted the film’s theatrical release in April. In a ruling published Aug. 5, the regulator upheld one complaint and rejected the remaining three.
According to the ASA, it received 30 complaints from members of the public, many of whom believed the ads were distressing for both children and adults.
The posters, displayed on the London Underground and at outdoor locations, featured a close-up of a mummified female figure with gray, ashen skin, cracked lips, and one swollen-shut eye, wrapped in shroud-like material covered with hieroglyphic-style symbols.
The ASA concluded that the figure gave “a realistic impression of a dead child” and that the wrapping reinforced that impression. Because the posters appeared in untargeted public locations, including one visible from a children’s nursery, the regulator ruled the imagery was likely to cause distress to young children. It found the campaign in breach of CAP Code rules 1.3 and 4.2.
Warner Bros. argued the figure’s neutral expression, open eye, and the absence of a sarcophagus or restraints were deliberate creative choices intended to reduce distress. The studio also noted its policy of placing outdoor horror advertising at least 100 meters from schools, though that policy does not extend to nurseries.
The ASA ordered that the posters “must not appear in the form complained of” and instructed Warner Bros. to ensure future marketing likely to frighten young children is kept away from locations where they are likely to see it.
The regulator rejected a separate complaint alleging the posters trivialized child loss or ongoing global conflicts, finding that the advertising clearly identified the image as promoting a film, providing sufficient context even if some viewers considered it distasteful.
