01 Sep 2014
Canadian Science Museum ad pulled from TV for being 'too violent'
BY Tom Anstey
A new television advert for Vancouver, Canada’s, Science World Museum has been pulled from TV on the basis that the 30-second clip is “too violent”.
The comedy ad features a high-spirited man walking from his house in the early morning, only to encounter a series of mishaps, including a paper to the face, stepping onto a nail, being attacked by a puppy called Sprinkles and getting kicked on the shins by a small child.
The hapless man then gets a flaming arrow in the back before being hit (off screen) by a bus, with the man continuing to be cheerful and smile throughout the spot. A tagline then offers a scientific fact which reads “optimists feel less pain”.
The agency behind the ad, Rethink Canada, has worked with the museum in the past on promotion for its Science of Sexuality exhibit and the We can explain campaign, which saw both advertising campaigns go viral online. The recently banned ad has also proved an internet hit, garnering more than 53,000 hits in a matter of days.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it had deemed the ad too violent to air on TV, though, as has been the case on multiple occasions, a banned advert can end up garnering more hits should it go viral without having to pay the costs of advertising on television.
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