50 Most Controversial Movie Posters Of All Time

Final Destination 5 (2011)

The Poster: A symbolic suggestion of every Final Destination demise there's ever been - a skull being skewered by iron rods.

The Controversy: 13 complaints about children being traumatised by the image led the ASA to ban its use on buses and tubes.

The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

The Poster: One of the funniest posters of the Noughties, as Roger Avary's black comedy about college sex was visualised using stuffed toys going at in a variety of positions.

The Controversy: Presumably somebody, somewhere thought this was trying to be a Kama Sutra for kids and vetoed it.

Wanted (2008)

The Poster: Glamorous assassins Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy get their rocks off holding very big guns.

The Controversy: The ASA upheld 17 complaints that the ads "could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns," and banned them.

Coco Before Chanel (2009)

The Poster: That emblem of Gallic chic and refinement, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (Audrey Tautou), is shown smoking a Gauloise, that other emblem of Gallic chic and refinement.

The Controversy: Unusually, it was the French themselves who imposed a ban, with Paris transport chiefs declaring that smoking wasn't allowed on the Metro - even in an advertisement.

The Road To Guantanamo (2006)

The Poster: Given the news coverage of atrocities at, say, Abu Gharib, the producers of Michael Winterbottom's war on terror docudrama probably thought showing a hooded detainee wasn't beyond the pale.

The Controversy: The hooded detainee. The MPAA thought the bag over the head was too strong, but they passed a reframing of the image focussing on the prisoners' chained hands.

Taxi To The Dark Side (2007)

The Poster: Alex Gibney's documentary about anti-terrorism tactics showed an image of a hooded prisoner being led away by soldiers, based on an actual photograph.

The Controversy: Just as with The Road To Guantanamo , the MPAA got flustered by the hood. Gibney accused them of censorship, although he should have known there was a chance of it happening, as the U.S. military had tried to destroy the original reference photo, too.

Dying Breed (2008)

The Poster: This Aussie cannibal shocker shows the whole menu - a pie laced with human body parts.

The Controversy: Aussie outdoor media company Adshel took one long, and refused to place the poster on bus shelters - although it was allowed inside cinema foyers.

Yogi Bear (2010)

The Poster: What could possibly be offensive about Yogi and Boo-Boo? Take another look at the tagline, "Great things come in bears," and notice how Yogi is positioned.

The Controversy: Less a controversy than a global 'nudge nudge wink wink' as bloggers everywhere had some fun; one memorable headline suggested Yogi Bear was a "new horror film about deviant sex."

Man Bites Dog (1992)

The Poster: Serial killer Ben (Benoît Poelvoorde) takes it out on a baby, symbolised by a blood-splattered dummy.

The Controversy: Too much for most countries, who used a revised version in which the dummy was replaced with a set of dentures.

Fire (1996)

The Poster: The ad for this Indian drama about lesbianism actually downplays the main characters' relationship, with a poster that suggests "chick flick" rather than "lesbian romance."

The Controversy: Right-wing protestors stormed screenings of the film, setting fire to the posters to express their homophobic hatred.