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The ITC have banned the Microsoft 'Life Is Short' Xbox ad, after receiving over 100 complaints from the general public.
The ad featured a newborn baby propelled through a delivery room window at birth, flying over rooftops and fields while slowly ageing, reaching adolescence and adulthood in a matter of seconds, before finally slamming into a grave as an old man. The 20 second ad was banned by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) after receiving 136 complaints from viewers, who described the ad as "offensive, shocking and in bad taste." Microsoft, on the other hand, defended the ad, saying it was "a positive statement about life," and for once, we agree with them.
In a statement, the ITC said that the scream the person emitted while flying through the air "suggested a traumatic experience which, together with the reminder that life is short, made the final scene more shocking," which is surely the point. "Advertisments cannot be avoided by those who are grieving in the way that programmes whose content is flagged in advance can. In that context it's considered that the final scene of a body smashing into its grave was unnecessary and had caused considerable distress to many viewers." So, the best TV games ad ever is banned, because a few Daily Mail readers get a bit uppity. In fact, the Daily Mail ran a double-page spread on the Xbox advertisement and similar ads, with the heading 'How can they justify these sick ads?'.
While it's a shame that the ad has been banned from TV (although it will still appear in cinemas and Microsoft's own marketing plans), it has to be said that games adverts have got steadily more and more bizarre. Take Sony's Third Place oddity, for example. Did that really make you want to buy a PS2, or just strangle David Lynch? While the Life Is Short ad was impressive, it contained no game footage, no pictures of the console - not even a mention of what the Xbox was. Perhaps this move by the ITC is a blessing in disguise, and more companies will start realising that fancy, 'clever' ads are all well and good, but what we really want is some cool game footage, stuff that makes us want to buy the game. Not a duck and a mummy.
Would you agree? Are games ads so far up their own backsides they're doing more harm than good?
The ad featured a newborn baby propelled through a delivery room window at birth, flying over rooftops and fields while slowly ageing, reaching adolescence and adulthood in a matter of seconds, before finally slamming into a grave as an old man. The 20 second ad was banned by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) after receiving 136 complaints from viewers, who described the ad as "offensive, shocking and in bad taste." Microsoft, on the other hand, defended the ad, saying it was "a positive statement about life," and for once, we agree with them.
In a statement, the ITC said that the scream the person emitted while flying through the air "suggested a traumatic experience which, together with the reminder that life is short, made the final scene more shocking," which is surely the point. "Advertisments cannot be avoided by those who are grieving in the way that programmes whose content is flagged in advance can. In that context it's considered that the final scene of a body smashing into its grave was unnecessary and had caused considerable distress to many viewers." So, the best TV games ad ever is banned, because a few Daily Mail readers get a bit uppity. In fact, the Daily Mail ran a double-page spread on the Xbox advertisement and similar ads, with the heading 'How can they justify these sick ads?'.
While it's a shame that the ad has been banned from TV (although it will still appear in cinemas and Microsoft's own marketing plans), it has to be said that games adverts have got steadily more and more bizarre. Take Sony's Third Place oddity, for example. Did that really make you want to buy a PS2, or just strangle David Lynch? While the Life Is Short ad was impressive, it contained no game footage, no pictures of the console - not even a mention of what the Xbox was. Perhaps this move by the ITC is a blessing in disguise, and more companies will start realising that fancy, 'clever' ads are all well and good, but what we really want is some cool game footage, stuff that makes us want to buy the game. Not a duck and a mummy.
Would you agree? Are games ads so far up their own backsides they're doing more harm than good?
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Bring back more shower gel adverts with t!ts in them I say.
The ITC have banned the Microsoft 'Life Is Short' Xbox ad, after receiving over 100 complaints from the general public.
The ad featured a newborn baby propelled through a delivery room window at birth, flying over rooftops and fields while slowly ageing, reaching adolescence and adulthood in a matter of seconds, before finally slamming into a grave as an old man. The 20 second ad was banned by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) after receiving 136 complaints from viewers, who described the ad as "offensive, shocking and in bad taste." Microsoft, on the other hand, defended the ad, saying it was "a positive statement about life," and for once, we agree with them.
In a statement, the ITC said that the scream the person emitted while flying through the air "suggested a traumatic experience which, together with the reminder that life is short, made the final scene more shocking," which is surely the point. "Advertisments cannot be avoided by those who are grieving in the way that programmes whose content is flagged in advance can. In that context it's considered that the final scene of a body smashing into its grave was unnecessary and had caused considerable distress to many viewers." So, the best TV games ad ever is banned, because a few Daily Mail readers get a bit uppity. In fact, the Daily Mail ran a double-page spread on the Xbox advertisement and similar ads, with the heading 'How can they justify these sick ads?'.
While it's a shame that the ad has been banned from TV (although it will still appear in cinemas and Microsoft's own marketing plans), it has to be said that games adverts have got steadily more and more bizarre. Take Sony's Third Place oddity, for example. Did that really make you want to buy a PS2, or just strangle David Lynch? While the Life Is Short ad was impressive, it contained no game footage, no pictures of the console - not even a mention of what the Xbox was. Perhaps this move by the ITC is a blessing in disguise, and more companies will start realising that fancy, 'clever' ads are all well and good, but what we really want is some cool game footage, stuff that makes us want to buy the game. Not a duck and a mummy.
Would you agree? Are games ads so far up their own backsides they're doing more harm than good?
The ad featured a newborn baby propelled through a delivery room window at birth, flying over rooftops and fields while slowly ageing, reaching adolescence and adulthood in a matter of seconds, before finally slamming into a grave as an old man. The 20 second ad was banned by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) after receiving 136 complaints from viewers, who described the ad as "offensive, shocking and in bad taste." Microsoft, on the other hand, defended the ad, saying it was "a positive statement about life," and for once, we agree with them.
In a statement, the ITC said that the scream the person emitted while flying through the air "suggested a traumatic experience which, together with the reminder that life is short, made the final scene more shocking," which is surely the point. "Advertisments cannot be avoided by those who are grieving in the way that programmes whose content is flagged in advance can. In that context it's considered that the final scene of a body smashing into its grave was unnecessary and had caused considerable distress to many viewers." So, the best TV games ad ever is banned, because a few Daily Mail readers get a bit uppity. In fact, the Daily Mail ran a double-page spread on the Xbox advertisement and similar ads, with the heading 'How can they justify these sick ads?'.
While it's a shame that the ad has been banned from TV (although it will still appear in cinemas and Microsoft's own marketing plans), it has to be said that games adverts have got steadily more and more bizarre. Take Sony's Third Place oddity, for example. Did that really make you want to buy a PS2, or just strangle David Lynch? While the Life Is Short ad was impressive, it contained no game footage, no pictures of the console - not even a mention of what the Xbox was. Perhaps this move by the ITC is a blessing in disguise, and more companies will start realising that fancy, 'clever' ads are all well and good, but what we really want is some cool game footage, stuff that makes us want to buy the game. Not a duck and a mummy.
Would you agree? Are games ads so far up their own backsides they're doing more harm than good?
Page: