Vehementi
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ITC bans X-Box Ad
By Julia Day
Posted: Wednesday, June 5th 2002
http://media.guardian.co.uk/advertising/story/0,7492,727772,00.html
A controversial ad for the Microsoft X-Box, which shows a man crash-landing into a grave, has been banned after 136 viewers complained to the television watchdog.
The independent television commission ordered Microsoft to pull the campaign after receiving complaints claiming it was shocking and offensive.
The ad, by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, starts with a baby boy being shot through a window by the force of his birth. He ages rapidly as he travels through the air, screaming, and finally crashes into his own grave as an old man.
A pregnant woman, a new mother and 20 recently bereaved viewers said they had found the ad offensive.
One viewer, who had lost a child during childbirth, said she had found it to be an upsetting reminder of her own experience.
Microsoft claimed the endline to the ad, "Life is short. Play more", was a "positive statement about life".
But the ITC disagreed, saying: "The man's screams throughout his life's journey suggested a traumatic experience, which, together with the reminder that life is short, made the final scene more shocking."
I dunno if you guys have seen this, but I found it while surfing over at Gamepro.
Odd. It is a pretty cool ad, but I can see why people were offended.