Censorship Watch: Ad Banned in Britain for Being Irresponsible

I guess in Britain it’s considered irresponsible to leave your 14 year old on the railroad tracks, because an advertisement for Miu Miu shot by famed photographer Bruce Weber was banned for that reason.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a non-governmental group that deals with “complaints about advertising” in the U.K., banned the ad because they found it to be “irresponsible and in breach of the Code in showing a child in a hazardous or dangerous situation.” The child in question is 14-year-old American actress Hailee Steinfeld, the breakout star of last year’s True Grit.  And here we thought we were the silly and puritanical ones when it came to standards in advertising.

We found this story at pdnpulse.com where it was explained that the company told the ASA that they were not meaning to depict a suicidal young girl, but instead was depicting an actress on a movie set relaxing between takes on an abandoned railroad track.  While the ASA accepted the explanation, they till found the ad to be troublesome for depicting a potentially hazardous situation.

It seems to crazy to even bother putting up a poll.  Does anyone really find this ad campaign to be irresponsible?