The ad, which had an age 18 rating symbol for the game, was promoting the THQ International-produced game 'The Punisher' on PlayStation2, Xbox and PC and featured a man holding a drill close to another man's face while holding him down. Text opposite the main image in the DPS ad stated "Become the punisher".
The game, which is based on a cult comic that is soon to become a movie, tells the story of an undercover cop whose family is wiped out and who goes looking for revenge.
One complainant objected that the ad, which appeared in the Official Xbox Magazine, the Daily Star and in pub ads, was offensive and unsuitable for young readers of Official Xbox Magazine, which has 25% of readers under the age of 18 according to an internal readership survey 2004.
The Advertising Standards Authority found that 20% of the magazine's readers were under the age of 18 years and that such a violent ad for an 18-rated game was unsuitable for the magazine's younger readers and was also likely to offend some of its adult readers.
A second complainant argued that because the ad appeared in a national paper it was still accessible to children, even though the newspaper is predominantly read by men aged over 18 years.
The Daily Star believed the ad ran in other national newspapers and pointed out that it appeared in its sports section and had an age 18 rating symbol.
The watchdog considered that because the ad depicted graphic violence and language, it could be seen to condone or glorify violence and was likely to cause serious or widespread offence to the public.
It told the advertiser to ensure that future ads did not depict such a violent image.
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