Lee Cronin's The Mummy Movie Poster Banned in U.K. For Depicting 'Realistic Impression of a Dead Child'

The U.K.'s advertizing regulator has slapped Warner Bros. for displaying Lee Cronin's The Mummy movie posters it says are "likely to distress young children."

Posters for the movie had antecedently been displayed connected the London Underground and connected billboards crossed the U.K., prompting 30 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The substance was highlighted connected societal media backmost successful April by BBC writer and broadcaster Samira Ahmed, who said she had personally submitted a ailment to the ASA.

Numerous complaints stated that the poster's imagery was excessively graphic, and displayed what looked similar a dormant and mummified child. The representation showsed a grey-skinned miss with 1 oculus partially closed, wrapped successful past bandages. A tagline stated: "Some Things Are Meant to Stay Buried."

Defending the posters, Warner Bros. stated that the miss was really live — or, technically, a "living mummy" (which sounds to maine much similar a people of undead?). Either way, Warner Bros. besides argued that the poster showed the miss successful a neutral facial expression, and did not picture violence.

The ASA, however, was having nary of it. "Because the fig had recognizable quality features, we considered that viewers were apt to recognize it arsenic a realistic depiction of a dormant child," it wrote. "We truthful concluded that the ads were unsuitable for outdoor show and truthful breached the code."

Warner Bros. was besides recovered to person breached a pledge to not spot the advert wrong 100m of a school, arsenic it could beryllium seen straight from a nursery for tiny children.

Just submitted my ailment to the Advertising Standards Authority astir this poster advertisement astatine conduit stations. Why is determination truthful small information of the interaction of specified images connected children? (And 1 mightiness add, connected bereaved parents). pic.twitter.com/gjwca6YDdX

Other complaints astir The Mummy's advertizing run were not upheld, however, including concerns astir a TV commercialized and akin online version. The ASA recovered that the advert had been targeted to aerial aft 7.30pm, erstwhile young children were little apt to spot it. The authorization besides dismissed further concerns that the representation would beryllium unecessarily distressing to complainants who had mislaid a kid themselves, oregon who were acrophobic astir the child's depiction successful the discourse of ongoing planetary conflicts.

Following the ASA's decision, the poster tin nary longer beryllium displayed publically successful its existent form. The authorization has besides instructed Warner Bros. "to guarantee that aboriginal selling that was apt to origin fearfulness oregon distress to young children did not look wherever they were apt to spot it."

IGN’s Lee Cronin’s The Mummy Review returned a 7/10. We said: "As disfigured arsenic it is amusing, Lee Cronin's The Mummy takes the benignant of tonal swings you seldom spot from a Hollywood studio."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social