Music magazine NME has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority for running an ad for a fashion brand that featured a man putting a gun to the head of a second man.
Fashion brand Fly53’s ad was splashed across a double-page spread showing a man gripping a second man by the throat while holding the gun to his head.
NME said it had a long-standing association with Fly53 and that it was a brand that was expected to be “edgy and provocative” but the ASA ruled that it was “aggressive and threatening”.
The advertising watchdog banned the ad, saying it was irresponsible for the NME to run the campaign.
The ASA said: ‘We considered that the advertisement’s depiction of gun crime was likely to be seen as glamorising and condoning real violence.
“We concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and was irresponsible and unsuitable for display in a music magazine.”
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