On Wednesday, a print ad in the London edition of Metro for Konami’s Crime Life: Gang Wars received complaints like “exploitation of racial stereotypes and glorified violence,” and “offensive and irresponsible.” ASA, the advertising watchdog of U.K. that governs over the country’s ad code, banned the print ad after hearing the complaint.
The ad showed five black men standing alongside each other in a street fight scene with a tagline, “Rule the streets or fall by the wayside.”
In its defense Konami of Europe said the characters in the ad are members of hip hop brand D12. It also says that tagline used only in reference to the main objective of players for the game.
Via [Eurogamer] and [Ferrago(imge)]
