The game ads they had to ban

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We investigate the shocking ads that upset the censors

Should ads on internet sites be taken down even if they're behind age gates? Midway's ad for Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks was available only on sites where users had to confirm they were 18. Even so, the ASA received a complaint from a journalist, who said it was "offensive, violent and not suitable to be viewed by children." View ithere(and, yes, there's decapitation and arm stabs with a pen-you have been warned, OK?)

The ASA concluded that, "although the ad was intended to be humorous, because it both condoned and glorified violence and contained some scenes which could be emulated, it was irresponsible."It added that "[The ASA]considered that the ad was likely to cause fear or distress and serious or widespread offense and that Midway Games had used shocking images to attract attention to their product."

And again, it ends with"We told Midway not to repeat the approach and told them to consult CAP Copy Advice before producing future ads." Yeah, like they're going to do that.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.