back to article UK regulator bans slasher-flick parody ad for OnePlus 5 mobe

The UK advertising industry's watchdog has censured OnePlus over a horror spoof ad for its OnePlus 5 phone. The amusing 30-second ad "Lake Blood" ends with a chainsaw-wielding hillbilly taking a selfie by a corpse he had just dismembered. It was shot by director Ben Gregor for production company Knucklehead. The Advertising …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Coffee/keyboard

    How did

    How did anyone sign this off? At least without a disclaimer of making it late nigh adult only?

    Even that still makes my stomach turn a little, and I know it's all makeup. I'd not personally want that to show just before I get some TV* during breakfast!

    *I don't watch TV, I have an add blocker. I don't see these adds. Thus I keep my breakfast inside should such distasteful content try to catch me unaware.

    1. katrinab Silver badge

      Re: How did

      Well the fact that the ASA has now banned an advert for a discontinued phone isn't much of a deterrent.

      1. K

        Re: How did

        Not too mention the free publicity that OnePlus are now getting.. I'm sure they're in the process of sending ASA a thank you card!

      2. Mage Silver badge

        Re: ASA bans

        All pointless and useless and give more publicity.

        How often is there a meaningful fine based on sales revenue? There is no incentive for anyone to take any notice.

        Also advertising standards in shops, web and media should be professionally proactively enforced. Most people complain to friend/spouse and never make an official complaint. Official complaints are often made by a narrow section of society.

    2. Korev Silver badge

      Re: How did

      You're assuming that this wasn't the intention. In these days of Twitter storms, creating an "adult", racist, sexist etc. advert seems to be quite an effective* way of getting your message out.

      *I'm not agreeing with them doing this

  2. tiggity Silver badge

    Not often

    I'm massively in agreement with Mr O

    The ("unknown" video flinging site / app maker) definitely should bear some responsibility.

    if it was a TV advert that was "adult" and TV company had broadcast it during Kids programme ad slots then the TV company would *rightly*) be getting hassle for placing the ad inappropriately.

    Its not great for phone flingers having their ads served to 7 year olds as they will not typically have much buying power / influence, so I would guess oneplus were paying ("unknown" video flinger) for an ad package targeted at likely buyers (which would likely be an age demographic appropriate for the ad)

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Not often

      The only device I trust to show YouTube* for a U or PG audience is one running Kodi on a big screen. No badly targeted ads (or ads at all), no suggestions leading you down a rabbit hole, search results aren't tailored to previous video views and you can tell if they're relevant or not before playing, and if you like you can apply parental controls to the add-on. If a bunch of volunteers can manage it in their spare time, why can't a billion dollar company?

      * or other free-content video flinging websites

    2. ArrZarr Silver badge

      Re: Not often

      If the appropriate settings were in place on the user's account, a correctly targeted ad would not have been shown to the user as long as the platform's systems worked. To expect video sharing providers to police this is similar to the requests to automatically remove extremist content - the challenges are the same in both situations.

      If I were investigating, I would first check the targeting and see if it's restricted so that it will not show to children. If that was in place and correct, the onus moves to the video platform as to why correctly targeted adverts showed outside of that targeting. This is even in the advertiser's best interest considering that it's their money being taken to show the ads - if the targeting is broken then the platform is probably going to return investment badly,

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Not often

        Why would the user have to have an account with YouTube for adverts to be targeted correctly?

        If the video is a children's video, the advert's rating should not be higher than the video's rating, even if the user is 94.

        1. Dave 126 Silver badge

          Re: Not often

          There was a book by Umberto Eco in which a counselor says that she has never met a child who has been traumatised by adult graphic content, except for one who had watched Disney's Snow White.

          Children are designed to ignore stuff they can't grok. It's the stuff tailor made to press their buttons that lingers and affects them - see: Bambi's mum, Watership Down etc. Or, in my case, an episode of the animated Pink Panther in which he unscrews the tail of a rattlesnake... when the rattlesnake wakes up, shakes and then looks at his missing tail he bursts into tears. That upset be for days.

  3. wolfetone Silver badge

    As a child of the 90's, I remember the cartoon "Animals of Farthing Wood" very fondly.

    Until about a month or two ago when someone rewatched it all and recounted how many characters died, and how they died. And this is a cartoon shown to children from the age of 5 upwards.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Why is death and nature a problem? Honest question.

      1. wolfetone Silver badge

        I've no idea. You're talking to the guy who can't understand why Bambi is banned in schools.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          So are you saying you are surprised some media gets allowed and others do not?

          Or that you do or do not agree with it?

          I realised the media are entirely at a whim to allow or not any content. They only pretend to follow rules.

          1. wolfetone Silver badge

            "So are you saying you are surprised some media gets allowed and others do not?

            Or that you do or do not agree with it?"

            Both really. Like I said I grew up with those cartoons which now you'd think would be too graphic to show children my age. Before that there were numerous cartoons depicting various shady activity (the Betty Boop one with them being spanked shouting "Do you wanna be in my gang"), and the aforementioned Bambi as well as The Lion King.

            I do think these days people are getting far too sensitive about what is shown, especially as during the 6 o'clock news young children will see far far worse than any cartoon or parody advert can show them. Yet nothing is done or said about that.

            1. The Indomitable Gall

              Betty Boop and other cartoons of the era were targeted at adults. A lot of it was about bending adult expectations of reality, and was at best indecipherable to kids, at worst nightmare-inducing (and I think the Pink Elephants On Parade sequence in Dumbo was inappropriate for kids, harking back to the days when cartoons were a pre-feature item at adult cinema).

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Lest we not forget watership down. I think I actually watched that in junior school if memory serves me right.

                1. Aladdin Sane

                  Animaniacs

                  Fingerprints.

                  1. Dave 126 Silver badge

                    Re: Animaniacs

                    There were bits of Pinnochio that were really upsetting.

                    No 18 cert movie upset me nearly as much as stuff aimed at my pre teen age group.

                  2. Neoc

                    Re: Animaniacs

                    @Aladdin Sane: I'd upvote you more than once if I could, just for the smile-inducing flashback you just caused me.

        2. GIRZiM

          Because it encourages kids to abuse animals when the animals are rude and don't answer them?

      2. Dodgy Geezer Silver badge

        ...Why is death and nature a problem?...

        Because humans come with a built-in emotional sub-system which drives their actions, and one feature of this system is that the average human will feel upset if someone they like dies. Presumably this has some evolutionary advantage, such as helping them avoid situations in which death of a friend is likely?

        Humans emotional sub-systems also have a built-in requirement to protect children from any upset or unhappiness. This is particularly strong in mothers, and it is a bad idea to be seen by mothers as an obstacle to the protection of the young.

        Consequentally, we have a set of social pressures which support the cossetting of the young, hiding any unfortunate aspects of the workld from them, and providing as 'womb-like' an environment as possible for as long as possible.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          But in relation to cartoons and animals?

          It seems it's not that these characters die. But how they do?

          Violence is not the same as nature and death is it?

  4. Valeyard

    so which is it?

    OnePlus was told not to broadcast the ad again in its current form, and provide warnings if it does so again.

    "please don't do it again. also, since we can't actually stop you please be subtle about it when you do"

    1. katrinab Silver badge

      Re: so which is it?

      And given that the model in question is now discontinued, they are unlikely to be running the ad again anyway.

  5. Korev Silver badge
    Childcatcher

    Too slow?

    It seems that the ASA is very slow to look at this kind of advert. By the time they act the advert is off the TV/not viewed as much on Youtube. Do they need to be given the powers to act more quickly?

    1. Adam 52 Silver badge

      Re: Too slow?

      No, the ASA shouldn't be given more powers. Or any powers. They're a trade body, just like the Direct Marketing Association, NICEIC or the British Parking Association. None of those organisations should have any powers beyond those of any other citizen.

      If an advert is unlawful or criminal then we have courts of law to fix the problem.

      1. Martin an gof Silver badge

        Re: Too slow?

        hey're a trade body, just like [...] NICEIC

        Or the BMA? Would you feel comfortable using a non-BMA doctor?

        As an ex-NICEIC registered electrician, it did used to grate that I had to shell out hundreds of pounds a year to them (other similar registers are available, unlike with gas), but given that there were certain legal requirements to be met, registering was actually a pretty good convenience. They provided legally-acceptable forms and dealt with Building Control, and their annual inspection "proved" that I was actually working competently. Much easier for a one-man-outfit than trying to maintain all that kind of stuff myself.

        M.

  6. Crisp

    Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

    Henry gets walled up inside a tunnel.

    While he's still alive!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

      is that the one where he has to chop his wheel off to escape or am I thinking of something else?

      1. Crisp

        Re: chop his wheel off

        No, I think you're thinking of Candle Cove.

      2. maffski

        Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

        And that time the fat controller forced them into an engine centipede?

        1. Crisp

          Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

          Did you see the episode where Annie and Clarabel get smashed from behind?

          1. Korev Silver badge
            Coffee/keyboard

            Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

            You're a very bad man... But I'm not going to pretend I didn't find it funny...

            1. pɹɐʍoɔ snoɯʎuouɐ
              Devil

              Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

              i believe these double entendres' were intentionally placed in young children's programs to make them entertaining for the adults who should be watching over the children and not using the TV as a baby sitter..

              have you seen the episode of rainbow where they were playing with each others balls blowing pipes and playing twangers,,, never mind the number of skins while pealing a banana

              1. Aladdin Sane

                Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

                That was a one-off made for Thames TV staff Xmas tape, not meant for broadcast.

                1. Dave 126 Silver badge

                  Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

                  Look at the buffers on that!!!

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Annie and Clarabel

            I think I'll just leave this here,

            https://i.imgur.com/IPm7Z01.jpg

    2. NBCanuck

      Re: Have you ever seen Thomas the Tank Engine?

      "Henry gets walled up inside a tunnel.

      While he's still alive!"

      ------ "For the love of God, Montresor!"

  7. Camilla Smythe

    As much as I get...

    The concern for younger viewers I would have banned it anyway for being a shit advert.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The simple answer is to ban adult rated adverts on you tube or get google to police the content, the latter at 300 hours of video uploaded every minute is not going to happen however it should.

    Why have the ASA not come to this conclusion when it is staring them straight in the face? Banning a single advert does nothing for this problem. Also, Why have they not asked about the options you can choose when posting an advert to you tube and what they chose for this advert? I'm guessing with all the tracking it's like Facebook and you can pick certain demographics.

  9. M7S
    Joke

    The argument from the advertisers will be.....

    clearly the targetting didn't work in this case, so we need to be required by law to provide them with more personal information on age, gender, income, relatives, likes, dislikes. browsing history, contacts, etc.

    Purely so that mistakes cannot happen in the future. Until next time.

  10. Timmy B

    What's even more puzzling is that I am a horror fan, frequent YouTube viewer and OnePlus owner and I've never seen it. Got to wonder how good the advertising model is on YouTube if I never see this but get loads and loads of adverts for online betting - something I'd never do and have no interest in. YouTube is one of the few sites where I allow adverts to pester me.

  11. W4YBO

    "an unanticipated amount of gore"

    With the title of "Lake Blood," you didn't anticipate gore?

    1. find users who cut cat tail

      Re: "an unanticipated amount of gore"

      The amount was definitely unanticipated -- I anticipated more gore.

  12. Stevie

    Bah!

    What puzzles me (and the content here is apposite) is why I am being bombarded with horror movies on my cable TV at Easter. I expect to have to avoid Rob Zombie and the Hostel crowd at Halloween, but Easter?

    1. VinceH
      Trollface

      Re: Bah!

      Part of the Easter story is about a zombie, isn't it?

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Nothing surprises me any longer

    When you daughter was 2, I decided to let her use the YT childrens app; expecting Peppa Pig, etc.

    What was offered up to her was enough to turn my stomach; now she uses the standard YT app and none of this nastiness has turned up (so far).

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Here's where American's Differ...

    For something like that to get banned on our side of the pond, they'd have to actually show them being dismembered before anyone would even bat an eyelash. Sure, you'd probably make sure that it wasn't played during the Thomas the Tank, or Bob the Builder--but anyone watching the news has seen more blood and violence on the screen, or any of these popular cop dramas, where corpses are regularly flayed out on the table (in prime time).

    I also think that little commercial tells a fine story that children can learn from: idiots get killed, don't be an idiot.

  15. Drew 11

    Irony alert: Check out google images results for the actress Caitlin-Rose Lacey taking the piss out of duck face selfie takers in this advert.

  16. GIRZiM
    Happy

    Tucker & Dale vs Evil

    I'd completely forgotten about it - thanks for reminding me!

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