Advertising Standards Agency bans latest XBox360 game from TV

Well, I'm quite sure this is fair and just - the advert, viewed and presumably enjoyed by untold millions, was banned from any further screenings because ONE person objected!

Dated 4^th April 2007, the ASA ruled against the TV ad. The advert, for the XBox 360 games console, featured a masked man being chased across a rooftop and jumping off, to continue in a car chase through busy streets. It was suitably, responsibly annotated to the effect, 'don't do this at home, kids' but obviously that wasn't enough for the English watchdog.

The issue is that A viewer - one and only one - believed that the ad was irresponsible because it glamorised 'street racing' and might encourage viewers, young men in particular, to drive dangerously.

Given that the movie '2 Fast 2 Furious' was shown (again) only the other day, it begs the question why that Uber violent car racing film was fine, but a game wasn't, eh!

Even crazier, Microsoft had cleared the advert with the BACC, both before shooting and in the editing phase. This failed to impress the ASA who ruled: The ad must not be broadcast again.

What sort of insane, politically correct nanny state do we live in where the objections of one single person outweigh the silent majority of the other 60 odd million in the country!

For me it also smacks of (potential) corruption and underhand tactics. Being paranoid I think about these things because, as my friend is fond of pointing out, --it happens. This is a conspiracy theory, not fact - but it could be. Suppose that one person was in the employ of say, another major console manufacturer with a vested interest in gaining market share… One complaint and WHAM, the competitor is out of pocket to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. Microsofts game is banished from our screen, leaving the other manufacturer 100% market share for the target audience as no-one no ONE even complained about their racing game shown around the same time.

Technically, it wasn't banned as such because the ASA is just a self-regulatory body set for advertisers, it's rulings being voluntary. As the don says, you don't have to comply, but let us just say it is in your best interests to do so, capite?

What can I say, it makes good reading, but if it only needs one person to complain - one who naturally can't be named because of our data protection act - then, well, you work it out. Naturally this works both ways, but I'm sure you see the point. England is screwed!

See the Cops and Robbers advert on YouTube

You can read the full ASA ruling against Microsoft here.