The Advertising Standards Authority has banned a TV spot for Stranglehold, Midway’s action game, and it can’t be shown again until the clip has been edited to remove the content that is considered unsuitable for young children.
The advert which contains a shoot-out from the game has caused two complaints, the first one didn’t think it was “acceptable for transmission before 9pm, when young children were likely to see it.” and the second complainer said that it shows “glorified violence and gun crime and that it was a dangerous incitement to susceptible people”.
After those complaints, the ASA took objection to the voiceover featured in the ad which states; “Honour is his code. Vengeance is his mission. Violence is his only option.” because they think that this could be seen as encouraging violence and for that reason they stopped the ad from being shown.
The picture company that are responsible for creating the TV ad said that the violence shown was stylised, unrealistic and had a fantasy quality to it. They also mentioned that there was no blood and gore as a result of the shooting.