Angelina's Guns Too Fun for U.K. TV

Advertising Standards Authority, which had a problem with Wanted posters in 2008, objects to DVD trailer

By Natalie Finn Mar 18, 2009 8:55 PMTags

Anarchy in the U.K. is not Wanted.

The Advertising Standards Authority, a London-based watchdog group, is recommending that British broadcasters not air a commercial touting the DVD release of the 2008 Angelina Jolie-starring action flick—not as it is, anyway—because of its glorification of gun violence.

Meanwhile, Wanted made more than $19 million in the U.K. and Ireland during its theatrical run last summer, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.

But the 35-second trailer, which prominently features a bullet-in-slow-motion motif while costars Jolie and James McAvoy proudly wield their firearms, "could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorizing the use of guns," the ASA insists.

Clearcast, which approves TV advertisements, said it was confident that viewers would be able to distinguish the fantastical action in Wanted from real life.

Per BBC News, Universal Pictures has resisted the ASA's complaint, stating that the ad has not aired at times when children are usually watching TV, and that other films whose trailers have featured guns and car chases have not had to jump through similar hoops.

Maybe the ASA, which also banned the Wanted posters last year, objects to a female lead handling the big guns, rather than the guns themselves, the studio suggested, according to the BBC.