An advert released to promote Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been banned after the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints that it “trivialised sexual violence” following an investigation.
As detailed in a ruling shared on the regulator’s website (thanks Game Developer), the advert – which began airing on YouTube and Video on Demand channels last November – focused on an airport security check where two security officers were, according to dialogue, “Off playing the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.” Standing in for the officers were two “replacers”.
“A male member of the public was then shown to be passing through the metal detector,” the ASA description continues. “A male security officer said, ‘You’ve been randomly selected to be manhandled – face the wall!’ and turned the man around. The female security officer was then shown to be licking her teeth while picking up a prescription container and shaking it, before showing it to the male officer who winked back at her.
“The male officer then told the man, ‘I’m gonna need you to remove your clothes, everything but the shoes.’ The woman then put on a pair of gloves and said, ‘Time for the puppet show!’ A post-credit scene showed the male officer putting a hand-held metal detector in the man’s mouth and said, ‘Bite down on this, she’s going in dry.'”
The ASA says it received a total of 11 complaints about the advert. Nine believed it “trivialised sexual violence” and “challenged whether the ad was irresponsible and offensive”, while two believed the ad “encouraged or condoned drug use” and “challenged whether the ad was irresponsible”.
During the ASA’s investigation, Activision Blizzard UK told the regulator the advertisement had been reviewed by Clearcast (a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves British TV advertising) which gave it an “ex-kids” timing restriction, meaning it could not be broadcast during or around children’s programming or content likely to appeal to under-16s.
Activision also argued the ad “depicted a deliberately implausible, parodic scenario that bore no resemblance to real airport security procedures” and that previous ASA rulings “recognised that ads containing obviously absurd or parodied scenarios reduced the likelihood of being interpreted literally or being viewed as behaviour to emulate.”
Addressing complaints of “trivialised sexual violence”, the publisher insisted the advert “did not sexualise the act of performing searches and contained no implication that the acts were sexual in nature.” It similarly argued the ad did “not depict illegal drugs or misuse of prescription medication.”
Despite Activision’s assertions, however, the ASA noted that while the advert contained no explicit imagery and while “most viewers would understand the ad was intended to be humorous”, the humour was “generated by the humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration of the man, an act associated with sexual violence.” It also felt that the officers’ “confident and joking demeanour presented this [act] in a humorous manner.”
“Because the ad alluded to non-consensual penetration, and framed it as an entertaining scenario,” the regulator concluded, “we considered that the ad trivialised sexual violence and was therefore irresponsible and offensive.” However, it did not uphold complaints regarding drug use, determining the advert was “unlikely to be understood as encouraging or condoning drug use” and was therefore “not irresponsible on that basis.”
Ultimately, the ASA ruled – as a result of the upheld complaints – that the Call of Duty advert “must not appear again in its current form”. Activision Blizzard UK was also told to ensure its ads were “socially responsible and did not cause serious offence, for example by trivialising sexual violence”. At present, the airport security spot is viewable as a video on the official Call of Duty channel.