Last year, during a Premier League football match on Sky Sports 1 in the United Kingdom, the world premiere trailer for Modern Warfare 3 debuted, mostly to enthusiastic response but not entirely.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom received complaints that the advertisement was too graphic and frightening to be broadcast in a time slot where children would be exposed to it. The ASA noted that the trailer, seen above, contained 'computer-generated scenes of New York under military assault, with buildings exploding and catching fire, soldiers loading guns and a submarine firing rockets.'
Activision responded to these complaints, noting that they specifically designed the trailer to abide by rules given to them by the ASA and that they had deliberately edited the trailer to be in accordance to those requirements. The trailer had been given a PG rating, designed to be suitable to be broadcast during a time slot where children may be watching.
Unfortunately, the ASA has ruled against Activision, and deemed that the trailer is too graphic to be broadcast before 7:30PM. This, essentially, means nothing at all as Activision is focusing nearly all of their marketing muscle on Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The question does arise, however, if similar complaints have been leveled against the debut trailer for Black Ops II, as well.
Comments