The leaflet for 'Super Troopers' was distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Films and had a yellow background with a black and white chequered border, in a similar design to a fixed-penalty notice.
The movie follows five state troopers in Vermont, avid pranksters who are desperately trying to save their jobs and out-do the local police department by solving a crime.
The advertisement read: "Penalty notice. Broken Lizard's Super Troopers. Warning: You're summoned to appear on November 15 at a cinema near you", and advertised the opening of the film.
A complainant from Essex said that the ad, which was left on car windscreens, could unduly distress recipients because it looked like a genuine penalty notice.
The advertiser claimed that it had tried to ensure that the ad did not look like a genuine penalty notice, and that it had been left mostly on cars that were in a car park of the cinema where the film showing.
The Advertising Standards Authority agreed with the complainant and told Twentieth Century Fox not to use the approach again.
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