Ad Watch: Kane & Lynch: The Controversy Continues

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a tale of highly flawed men. Kane is a hard and bitter sociopath while Lynch is medicated and thoroughly homicidal. On top of it all, they’re both a pair of ugly dudes, having given up handsomeness to age and a criminal lifestyle long ago.

It is perhaps appropriate on some level then that the release for Kane & Lynch has not been pretty. The most recent mar has come from the U.K., where magazine and TV ads have come under fire. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received 26 individual complaints, and that’s resulted in certain advertisements being banned.

We take a closer look at the situation, with comments from Jon Brooke, U.K. Marketing Controller for Eidos.

The violence here is very, very real
The primary ad that received the most complaints appeared on a poster and in magazines, particularly Edge and Total Film. With some slight variation, they feature a quote from the Official Xbox 360 Magazine talking about the visceral, gritty, nasty nature of the game’s violence and tone. Below is an image of the balding Lynch holding a shotgun, with the heavily scarred Kane in front of him with surgical gloves and a broken nose. Kane is talking on a cell phone while tightly grasping the hair of Yoko, the daughter of a Yakuza crime boss. Her mouth is gagged with tape and her face is streaked with mascara from crying.

The image of the ad is very gripping; too much it seems for some readers. "The majority of the complainants believed the ad was offensive, because it included shocking images, which condoned violence, particularly towards women," said the ASA.

Imagery too shocking? You be the judge...

When prompted, Future Publishing (the publisher of Edge and Total Film) and Eidos both responded that the ads were both appropriate for the demographics of the magazines and consistent with the mature content of the game. "The print adverts were placed only into adult male lifestyle and specialist print publications and they did not target children," stated Brooke.

The ASA, however, upheld its decision, "Although we noted the image in the ads was not dissimilar to some of the images shown as part of the editorial content of Edge and Total Film magazines, we considered that the portrayal of violence it contained, with particular regard to the female hostage, was graphic and too shocking to be seen in any medium."

Eidos also felt the poster was placed appropriately as well, though they noted that the posters have been switched out. "The outdoor posters were approved by the media owner; however, copy was swapped immediately once we heard of the complaints," said Brooke. "The image was designed to be cinematic and it was not intended to distress. This kidnap sequence tells the story of a mercenary who’s own wife and daughter have been kidnapped by the yakuza and in one major scene he’s forced into kidnapping the leader’s daughter in the hope of a trade. This scene is vital to the story of the game and this is the reason why it fronts the advertising campaign."

The ASA, however, commented that they understood the relevance of the scene, but thought that the magazine quote sounded like a condoning of violence and "that the portrayal of violence it contained, with particular regard to the female hostage, was graphic and too shocking to be seen in an untargeted medium."