Reclining, gun-toting Jolie is glamorous, say regulators

Posters for the film Wanted depicted Jolie and co-star James McAvoy brandishing and shooting guns alongside text which suggested that McAvoy's character's life was improved when he gave up his dead-end job to become an assassin.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that the posters breached its rules on social responsibility, public sensitivity, violence and anti-social behaviour, and causing offence.

The posters for the film were the subject of 17 complaints from members of the public which claimed that the adverts were irresponsible, that they glorified violence and gun crime and that they should not be seen by children.

Some complaints also suggested that at a time of increasing public concern about gun crime the posters should not have been used.

The film was released by Universal Pictures, which said that it had consulted with the companies operating the hoarding sites on whether or not the ads were suitable.

"They said they always worked closely with media owners and relied on their knowledge of what was suitable and, because no media owners had expressed concern and because they had seen previous ads with a similar theme, they understood there was no cause for concern," said the ASA ruling, explaining Universal's position.

Universal had restricted the distribution of the posters, instructing that they not be placed near schools or other areas of sensitivity.

The ASA welcomed that restriction but said that it was not sufficient to stop children from seeing the posters.

"We considered however, because [the posters] appeared in public places, this restriction would not prevent children from seeing the ads," said the ASA ruling. "We concluded that the ads were not suitable to be seen by children because they could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns."

It found that the ads themselves portrayed lethal violence in too attractive a light. Part of that, it said, was due to the use of Angelina Jolie in the ads, since she is "generally recognised as being glamorous".

"We noted one of the guns in [one of the ads] had recently fired, a moving bullet was shown and the ad featured other images related to the use of guns, including a bullet sprayed target; furthermore, Angelina Jolie was shown, holding a gun, in a pose that may be considered provocative," it said.

The words in the ad "suggested James McAvoy's character's life had changed for the better since he had become an assassin," said the ASA.

Universal argued that viewers of the posters would understand the context of an advert for an action film, and one based on a comic book. The ASA said that this did not absolve the company.

"We acknowledged most viewers would understand the posters reflected the content of an action film. However, we considered, that because the ads featured a glamorous actress, action poses, several images of or related to guns and aspirational text, they could be seen to glamorise the use of guns and violence," it said. "We concluded [the] ads…could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorising the use of guns."

The ASA did not, though, agree with some complainants that the adverts were particularly insensitive because of current political concerns about gun crime. "We considered most members of the public would understand that the posters reflected the content of an action film. We therefore concluded they were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," it said.