INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Three parents contacted the ASA to say their children had been distressed by
the ads
Children were left distressed after seeing ads for a horror film on YouTube, the Advertising Standards Authority
(ASA) has revealed.Three parents contacted the ASA after their children saw ads for Insidious: The Last Key - rated 15 in the UK.One ad for
the film was shown before videos of songs from Frozen, instructions for building a Lego fire station and a clip from the cartoon PJ
Masks.The ASA has upheld the complaints.In a second ad, the ASA said a young woman was seen "lying on a floor immobile, bloodied and
distressed while a humanoid creature crept towards her and then probed at her with claw-like fingers and pierced her skin".Further
horror-themed imagery followed, including a sequence of women screaming.This ad played before two videos of Minecraft, a game popular with
children.Sony Pictures and Sony-owned Columbia Pictures, which promoted the film, told the ASA they had excluded unknown audiences and
children from their targeting.The TheIndianSubcontinent understands that a follow-up probe by Sony indicated that YouTube's content
categorising algorithms were at fault.The Google-owned streaming service, however, said that advertisers were responsible for own their
The video site added the ads had not appeared on YouTube Kids, an app aimed specifically at children that offers a filtered selection of
YouTube content."We considered the ads were unsuitable for children because they were excessively frightening and shocking, and were likely
to cause fear and distress," the ASA said in its ruling.The ASA also received three complaints from adults who found the ads unduly
And it noted that the ads had appeared before unrelated content, with no warning and could not be skipped until five seconds had elapsed.The
regulator has told Sony Pictures to ensure that future ads are appropriately targeted.The firm declined to comment.But the
TheIndianSubcontinent understands that it is now limiting its ads for mature content to a pre-vetted list of safe YouTube channels.
