{"id":1778605,"date":"2026-02-18T16:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1778605"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:56:19","slug":"call-of-duty-ad-banned-by-uk-regulator-after-investigation-determined-it-trivialised-sexual-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1778605","title":{"rendered":"Call of Duty ad banned by UK regulator after investigation determined it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/call-of-duty-black-ops-7\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Call of Duty: Black Ops 7<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Call of Duty ad banned by UK regulator after investigation determined it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Complaints about &#8220;drug use&#8221; not upheld.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/call-of-duty-black-ops-7-banned-ad.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Still from a banned Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 advert showing a fake airport security officer putting on a rubber glove.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"call-of-duty-black-ops-7-banned-ad.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Activision Blizzard<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Matt Wales avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1521645425.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Matt Wales avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1521645425.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/matt-wales\">Matt Wales<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-18T16:56:19+00:00\">Feb. 18, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/call-of-duty-ad-banned-by-uk-regulator-after-investigation-determined-it-trivialised-sexual-violence?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          1 comment<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"c99daa07-d790-41ab-a9c0-750d6800dab8\" data-name=\"Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\" title=\"Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7\"><br \/>\n  Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>\nAn advert released to promote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/call-of-duty-black-ops-7\">Call of Duty: Black Ops 7<\/a> has been banned after the UK&#8217;s Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints that it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221; following an investigation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAs detailed in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asa.org.uk\/rulings\/activision-blizzard-uk-ltd-g25-1319083-activision-blizzard-uk-ltd.html\">ruling shared on the regulator&#8217;s website<\/a> (thanks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamedeveloper.com\/marketing\/call-of-duty-advert-banned-in-the-uk-for-trivialising-sexual-violence-\">Game Developer<\/a>), the advert &#8211; which began airing on YouTube and Video on Demand channels last November &#8211; focused on an airport security check where two security officers were, according to dialogue, &#8220;Off playing the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.&#8221; Standing in for the officers were two &#8220;replacers&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;A male member of the public was then shown to be passing through the metal detector,&#8221; the ASA description continues. &#8220;A male security officer said, &#8216;You&#8217;ve been randomly selected to be manhandled \u2013 face the wall!&#8217; and turned the man around. The female security officer was then shown to be licking her teeth while picking up a prescription container and shaking it, before showing it to the male officer who winked back at her.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;The male officer then told the man, &#8216;I&#8217;m gonna need you to remove your clothes, everything but the shoes.&#8217; The woman then put on a pair of gloves and said, &#8216;Time for the puppet show!&#8217; A post-credit scene showed the male officer putting a hand-held metal detector in the man&#8217;s mouth and said, &#8216;Bite down on this, she&#8217;s going in dry.'&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nThe ASA says it received a total of 11 complaints about the advert. Nine believed it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221; and &#8220;challenged whether the ad was irresponsible and offensive&#8221;, while two believed the ad &#8220;encouraged or condoned drug use&#8221; and &#8220;challenged whether the ad was irresponsible&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDuring the ASA&#8217;s investigation, Activision Blizzard UK told the regulator the advertisement had been reviewed by Clearcast (a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves British TV advertising) which gave it an &#8220;ex-kids&#8221; timing restriction, meaning it could not be broadcast during or around children&#8217;s programming or content likely to appeal to under-16s.<\/p>\n<p>Activision also argued the ad &#8220;depicted a deliberately implausible, parodic scenario that bore no resemblance to real airport security procedures&#8221; and that previous ASA rulings &#8220;recognised that ads containing obviously absurd or parodied scenarios reduced the likelihood of being interpreted literally or being viewed as behaviour to emulate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Addressing complaints of &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221;, the publisher insisted the advert &#8220;did not sexualise the act of performing searches and contained no implication that the acts were sexual in nature.&#8221; It similarly argued the ad did &#8220;not depict illegal drugs or misuse of prescription medication.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nDespite Activision&#8217;s assertions, however, the ASA noted that while the advert contained no explicit imagery and while &#8220;most viewers would understand the ad was intended to be humorous&#8221;, the humour was &#8220;generated by the humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration of the man, an act associated with sexual violence.&#8221; It also felt that the officers&#8217; &#8220;confident and joking demeanour presented this [act] in a humorous manner.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Because the ad alluded to non-consensual penetration, and framed it as an entertaining scenario,&#8221; the regulator concluded, &#8220;we considered that the ad trivialised sexual violence and was therefore irresponsible and offensive.&#8221; However, it did not uphold complaints regarding drug use, determining the advert was &#8220;unlikely to be understood as encouraging or condoning drug use&#8221; and was therefore &#8220;not irresponsible on that basis.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nUltimately, the ASA ruled &#8211; as a result of the upheld complaints &#8211; that the Call of Duty advert &#8220;must not appear again in its current form&#8221;. Activision Blizzard UK was also told to ensure its ads were &#8220;socially responsible and did not cause serious offence, for example by trivialising sexual violence&#8221;. At present, the airport security spot is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FH1csdj8oMk\">viewable as a video on the official Call of Duty channel<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>\nAn advert released to promote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/call-of-duty-black-ops-7\">Call of Duty: Black Ops 7<\/a> has been banned after the UK&#8217;s Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints that it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221; following an investigation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAs detailed in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asa.org.uk\/rulings\/activision-blizzard-uk-ltd-g25-1319083-activision-blizzard-uk-ltd.html\">ruling shared on the regulator&#8217;s website<\/a> (thanks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamedeveloper.com\/marketing\/call-of-duty-advert-banned-in-the-uk-for-trivialising-sexual-violence-\">Game Developer<\/a>), the advert &#8211; which began airing on YouTube and Video on Demand channels last November &#8211; focused on an airport security check where two security officers were, according to dialogue, &#8220;Off playing the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.&#8221; Standing in for the officers were two &#8220;replacers&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;A male member of the public was then shown to be passing through the metal detector,&#8221; the ASA description continues. &#8220;A male security officer said, &#8216;You&#8217;ve been randomly selected to be manhandled \u2013 face the wall!&#8217; and turned the man around. The female security officer was then shown to be licking her teeth while picking up a prescription container and shaking it, before showing it to the male officer who winked back at her.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n&#8220;The male officer then told the man, &#8216;I&#8217;m gonna need you to remove your clothes, everything but the shoes.&#8217; The woman then put on a pair of gloves and said, &#8216;Time for the puppet show!&#8217; A post-credit scene showed the male officer putting a hand-held metal detector in the man&#8217;s mouth and said, &#8216;Bite down on this, she&#8217;s going in dry.'&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nThe ASA says it received a total of 11 complaints about the advert. Nine believed it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221; and &#8220;challenged whether the ad was irresponsible and offensive&#8221;, while two believed the ad &#8220;encouraged or condoned drug use&#8221; and &#8220;challenged whether the ad was irresponsible&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDuring the ASA&#8217;s investigation, Activision Blizzard UK told the regulator the advertisement had been reviewed by Clearcast (a non-governmental organisation which pre-approves British TV advertising) which gave it an &#8220;ex-kids&#8221; timing restriction, meaning it could not be broadcast during or around children&#8217;s programming or content likely to appeal to under-16s.<\/p>\n<p>Activision also argued the ad &#8220;depicted a deliberately implausible, parodic scenario that bore no resemblance to real airport security procedures&#8221; and that previous ASA rulings &#8220;recognised that ads containing obviously absurd or parodied scenarios reduced the likelihood of being interpreted literally or being viewed as behaviour to emulate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Addressing complaints of &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221;, the publisher insisted the advert &#8220;did not sexualise the act of performing searches and contained no implication that the acts were sexual in nature.&#8221; It similarly argued the ad did &#8220;not depict illegal drugs or misuse of prescription medication.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\nDespite Activision&#8217;s assertions, however, the ASA noted that while the advert contained no explicit imagery and while &#8220;most viewers would understand the ad was intended to be humorous&#8221;, the humour was &#8220;generated by the humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration of the man, an act associated with sexual violence.&#8221; It also felt that the officers&#8217; &#8220;confident and joking demeanour presented this [act] in a humorous manner.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Because the ad alluded to non-consensual penetration, and framed it as an entertaining scenario,&#8221; the regulator concluded, &#8220;we considered that the ad trivialised sexual violence and was therefore irresponsible and offensive.&#8221; However, it did not uphold complaints regarding drug use, determining the advert was &#8220;unlikely to be understood as encouraging or condoning drug use&#8221; and was therefore &#8220;not irresponsible on that basis.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\nUltimately, the ASA ruled &#8211; as a result of the upheld complaints &#8211; that the Call of Duty advert &#8220;must not appear again in its current form&#8221;. Activision Blizzard UK was also told to ensure its ads were &#8220;socially responsible and did not cause serious offence, for example by trivialising sexual violence&#8221;. At present, the airport security spot is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FH1csdj8oMk\">viewable as a video on the official Call of Duty channel<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Call of Duty ad banned by UK regulator after investigation determined it &#8220;trivialised sexual violence&#8221; Complaints about &#8220;drug use&#8221; not upheld. Image credit: Activision Blizzard News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Feb. 18, 2026 1 comment Follow Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 An advert [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1778605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1778605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1778605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1778605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1778605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}