The poster features a creepy-looking child with staring eyes and the tagline "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth". It is released in the UK next week and stars 'Mission: Impossible' actor Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer who plays 'ER''s Dr Pratt.
The Advertising Standards Authority said that it had already received 19 complaints from around the country since the end of last week, with people worried that the ad would scare children and that it was tasteless and offensive.
According to a report in the Lincolnshire Echo, where a number of the complaints have come from, mothers want the posters taken down because they are scaring youngsters.
One mother Angela Kelly told the newspaper: "It is absolutely horrendous and really disturbing. Children will be really scared by it. It is such a frightening image, the girl has piercing eyes. We try to avoid driving past it now."
In cases where there is an extreme reaction to an ad, such as the poster for 'Ali G in Da House' that drew more than 100 complaints, the ASA can fast-track an investigation. The ad watchdog said that it is currently looking into the case of 'Dawn of the Dead'.
The film is a remake of the 1978 cult classic about people who return from the dead and feast on the flesh of the living. In the UK the release of 'Dawn of the Dead' will be followed by a comedy spoof called 'Shaun of the Dead', written and starring Simon Pegg from Channel 4's 'Spaced'.
In the US, where 'Dawn of the Dead' was released last week, it quickly knocked Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' from the top film slot.
UK distributor Entertainment Film did not return calls to comment on the issue at the time of writing.
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