By Raphael G. Satter
LONDON (AP) --A TV ad showing actress Angelina Jolie firing weapons must not be shown because it could be seen as condoning gun violence, Britain’s advertising watchdog said Wednesday.
The Advertising Standards Authority said the ad for the DVD version of Universal Pictures’ 2008 action flick “Wanted” breached ad codes and should not be broadcast. (The ASA’s ruling)
The film follows the initiation of an office drudge Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy) into a mythical group of super-powered assassins. The ad for the DVD release shows McAvoy and co-star Jolie wielding pistols, a shotgun, and generally spraying scene after scene with bullets.
The authority said the ad – which juxtaposes images of gun violence with Jolie showing off her bare back – “could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorizing the use of guns.”
It was unclear what practical effect, if any, the ruling would have. The “Wanted” DVD was released in Britain nearly six months ago.
The advertising authority has no power to enforce its writ, but it can refer advertisers to Britain’s Office of Fair Trading for legal action.
Universal did not immediately return an e-mail Wednesday seeking reaction to the authority’s ruling.
The ruling underlined Britain’s sensitivity to gun crime.
There were 59 firearm-related homicides in England and Wales in 2006-2007, compared to the more than 10,000 gun-related killings reported by the FBI in the United States in 2007.
But public concern was heightened in Britain after the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in 2007. The murder drew national attention and prompted much soul-searching over whether the country’s already strict gun control laws were tough enough.
On the Net:
The ASA’s ruling: http://tinyurl.com/c4ek35
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More