Posters for the new The Mummy film have been banned from the London Underground and other billboards after regulators said they included realistic depictions of a dead child.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 30 complaints regarding the promotional campaign for the Lee Cronin film and said the posters must not be displayed in areas where children could see them.
Many complainants argued the imagery was distressing for both children and adults.
Warner Bros defended the campaign, stating it had been prepared with “due responsibility to consumers and society” and was not designed to create fear or offence.
The poster shows a close-up image of a female figure with a mummified appearance, sunken features and one eye swollen shut, alongside the tagline: “Some things are meant to stay buried.”
The distributor explained that the character depicted was a “living mummy” who was returned to her parents as a young adult, many years after having been kidnapped as a child.
It argued that the poster used a neutral facial expression while avoiding elements of violence or intimidation to reduce any risk of distress.
Warner Bros added that the design had been cleared by Transport for London’s advertising partner, Global, for display across the London Underground network.
However, the ASA upheld the complaints regarding the outdoor and Underground posters.
The watchdog noted that the figure’s grey, ashen skin, cracked lips and fixed, vacant expression combined to give a “realistic impression of a dead child”.
The ASA stated: “Because the figure had recognisable human features, we considered that viewers were likely to understand it as a realistic depiction of a dead child.”
