A trailer for horror film Saw 3D has been banned from an early TV slot after a ten year old boy complained to the TV watchdog.
The boy who saw the Saw ad at around 8.30pm while watching Channel 5’s The Gadget Show lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority saying it was “inappropriately scheduled and distressing”.
The Saw trailer which depicts a screaming man reaching towards the viewer with a bloody hand and circular saw blades flying was originally OK-ed by Clearcast to be shown after 7.30pm. The Advertising services organisation justified it’s decision saying that anyone watching TV later than this time would recognise the advert as a film trailer.
However the ASA upheld the child’s complaint saying it was “likely to cause distress to young children”. They argued that the the advert which depicted people in a cinema “linked the scenes from the film with a recognisably real situation”.
“We considered it was therefore likely to cause distress to young children who might not make a clear distinction between the scenes from the film and the scenes in the cinema.”
The watchdog ruled that the Saw 3D trailer must now be broadcast after 9pm.
Saw 3D. Nasty.
