Ad for De Niro horror Hide & Seek too scary for children

by Julia Pearlman, Brand Republic 25-May-05, 08:50

LONDON – A creepy ad for a Robert de Niro film 'Hide and Seek', which featured the words written in blood 'You let her die', has been pulled up by the advertising watchdog after it was shown before 7.30pm at a time likely to frighten children.

The ad for the January release of the Twentieth Century Fox movie was shown during Channel 4's 6pm broadcast of 'The Simpsons'.

The ad featured the words "You let her die" written in red around the bath and a frightened girl sitting in a torrent of water. A policeman shines a torch on the girl and a ghostly image is shown as the policeman asks "What are you drawing there?'" to which the girl replies "You... dying".

The complainant said that it was inappropriate to schedule an ad for a horror film during the cartoon because children could be watching.

The broadcaster said that it did not consider 'The Simpsons' to be a children's programme because it was not commissioned for children, however it did accept that the programme was likely to appeal to a young audience, which could be watching at this time.

The BACC said this execution for the 15-rated film, which also stars Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen and Elisabeth Shue, was broadcast at this time because spots shown after 9pm contained loud, dramatic music with screams and short cuts edited together in a fast, dramatic manner.

The Advertising Standards Agency said it agreed that the ad may have come across tamer than the BACC thought it was, although the watchdog said "it conveyed a sense of creepiness and suspense".

However, the ad was found in breach of the ASA's code of broadcast and should not be allowed to be shown before 7.30pm.

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