Video game advert broke rules

A TV advertisement for an adult Playstation game breached advertising standards when it was shown during children's television…

A TV advertisement for an adult Playstation game breached advertising standards when it was shown during children's television programming, including an episode of Little House on the Prairie.

Complaints against the advertisement for the game Grand Theft Auto were among 20 upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI).

An advertisement which maligned airport services was also found to have broken the code.

Several complaints were made about the advertisement for Grand Theft Auto, according to the ASAI, and most related to the fact that the game for over-18s only was shown while children would be watching television.

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The advertisers said the commercial had been cleared by RTÉ and that Little House on the Prairie had been rescheduled to run instead of The Premiership football programme and they had not been made aware of the change.

The ASAI said this particular advertisement was not appropriate for viewing by children.

The airport authorities in Dublin, Shannon and Cork, along with Aer Rianta Retail, brought a complaint against a Northern Ireland Tourist Board radio advertisement which made negative comments about the "hassle" at airports.

The promotion of breaks in Northern Ireland features a mock airport announcement stating: "Attention please, we regret to announce that all flights have been cancelled due to an excuse we haven't thought of yet." It also stated that customers could avail of "overpriced food" and "bad amenities" during the delay.

The ASAI agreed that this discredited the airports.

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly

Olivia Kelly is Dublin Editor of The Irish Times