'Duke Nukem Forever' TV ad banned by regulator

A TV advert for video game Duke Nukem Forever featuring a naked woman pole dancing and two girls dressed in school uniforms about to kiss has been banned from airing before 11pm by the UK's advertising regulator.

The animated ad, aired in June, also featured a full-frontal view of women wearing only thong-style pants, with pixelation obscuring their bottoms and nipples, along with action sequences such as a character being punched and aircraft firing weapons over a blazing city.

Two versions of the advert, developed by games publisher Take Two Interactive, had been cleared for broadcast on television after 7.30pm and 9.30pm.

However, 34 viewers, who all saw the ad after 9pm, complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that it was "offensive and irresponsible". They claimed that it was "sexist, violent and overly explicit and included imagery which was likely to harm children and vulnerable people".

Take Two responded by saying that the ad was intended to reflect the "over-the-top, humourous take on the first person shooter video game genre" in Duke Nukem titles.

The company said that the sexual content and violence was presented in an "exaggerated, non-realistic way" by animated characters to send up "the 1980s, muscle-bound, ultra-macho figure". It also noted that all the content was actual game footage that had been rated 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.

In its ruling, the ASA noted that the ad was not "overly graphic" for broadcast after 9pm, but added that the presentation of the women's naked bodies and their sexual movements was "overly sexually explicit for an ad with a post-9pm scheduling restriction".

"We also noted that the ad featured two girls in school kilts and bunches about to kiss, and considered that, in the context of other scenes with sexual content, the ad appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour," said the regulator.

"On that basis... we concluded that the ad was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence when broadcast before 11pm."

After finding various breaches of the advertising code, the ASA told Take Two that the Duke Nukem Forever ad must not be broadcast again before 11pm.

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