ASA dismisses GTA IV telly ad complaints

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 30th 2008 at 9:45AM }

The Advertising Standards Authority of the Ü-K said it ain't seein' nothing wrong with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV ads across its domain. GI.biz reports the organization received complaints from ten viewers about the violence in the ad, while seven others objected to the time the commercial aired. The ASA stated the ad was slotted in appropriate times and it saw no "direct harmful influence on children or young people" in the commercial.

The UK advert for GTA IV was very similar to the US version ... just with a British voice over at the end and some squiggly mark in front of the price tag that looks like this: £. We've been told it means lbs., but that seems silly, because pounds are a measure of weight. Anyway, the commercial can be found after the break for a refresher.

Tags: asa, grand-theft-auto, grand-theft-auto-4, grand-theft-auto-iv, gta-iv

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brucie B @ Jul 30th 2008 9:53AM

You have to be Kidding!

Tiptup300 @ Jul 30th 2008 1:49PM

Nothing like the ripe ole age of 99.

knighty @ Jul 30th 2008 10:11AM

And we all know 1 complaint equals 1 billion viewers. So 17 BILLION people were offended by this advert.

Infidel @ Jul 30th 2008 10:13AM

Where is that from? I know i loved it but cant remember the name.

knighty @ Jul 30th 2008 10:15AM

Family Guy, the episode with the FCC and Peter's own TV station :P

rdaneel72 @ Jul 30th 2008 10:30AM

I read Clive Barker's Damnation Game when I was in college. I was an English major, and pretty smart. I knew Barker was British. I understood the novel was set in the UK. But the concept of the protaganist wearing a 400 pound suit baffled me for several pages. I assummed it was some kind of metaphor; the protaganist had just gotten out of jail, perhaps the weight of the suit was symbolic of the pressure a ex-con feels to assimilate back into society.

I mentioned it to my then girlfriend/now wife, who grew up in London. She laughed and set me straight. The suit didn't weight 400 pounds. It COST 400 pounds.

Ace @ Jul 30th 2008 10:53AM

Good thing he didn't hire a £600 prostitute or that might've really messed up the story.

But seriously...how can you be unaware of the British currency? And you could clear all the confusion by simply going metric.
Ah...good 'ol metric, your superiority is clearer day by day.

j.howlett @ Jul 30th 2008 11:26AM

that is a funny misunderstanding, thanks for the laugh. maybe i'll be able to return the favor.

Kristof @ Jul 30th 2008 11:30AM

I ... I had no idea currency came in metric form.

What?!

Ace @ Jul 30th 2008 11:46AM

@ Kristof

[jk]Yes, currencies are metric. It's based off of how high you can stack coins of standardized size. In the Europe we call the equivalent of $5 "15 centimeters".[/jk]

But no, the confusion of pound (lb) vs pound (£) could be cleared up by simply (lol) adopting the metric system.
Though...I guess it would be simpler to call the currency something else. Like scone, or crumpet maybe?

arrrgh @ Jul 30th 2008 11:47AM

It's the Canadian Dollar. ;)

LaughingTarget @ Jul 30th 2008 3:37PM

It's easy to confuse when they never use £ in the text. If all you see is "pounds" when discussing objects not clearly designated as values, anyone utilizing the Imperial measurement is likely to be confused.

If I said I have a 2,000 pound car, that could mean anything. Either it's a light car or it's a junky piece of crap for being so cheap.