GTA IV ad complaints dismissed by ASA

No "direct harmful impact" it says

31 July 2008 14:12 GMT / By Verity Burns

Complaints against an advert for Grand Theft Auto in the UK have been dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority.

A whopping total of 17 sensitive viewers took offence at the advert which shows Niko Bellic running through Liberty City and ending with him smashing a car window and driving off, committing grand theft.... ahhh. Clever.

Ten viewers complained about the violence, while seven took exception to the time of the broadcast.

After a chat with Rockstar, the ASA agreed with the company - that the audience during the broadcast would have been mostly made up of adults and that any violence in the advert was exaggerated and cartoon-like.

"Although some viewers may object to the nature of the game, the ad itself did not feature sequences that were likely to have a direct harmful influence on children or young people," said the ASA.

Full tags

Gaming, Xbox 360, PS3, Racing games, Rockstar, Microsoft, Sony, Eidos, Nintendo