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The Mummy film ad banned from London Underground

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Cite

BBC News. (2026, August 5). The Mummy film ad banned from London Underground. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdewg45w5kno?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

BBC News · collected 2026-08-05 · by BBC News

Quick Summary

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned promotional posters for the new The Mummy film from the London Underground after receiving 30 complaints about realistic depictions of a dead child. The ASA found that the image on the poster, which shows a female figure with mummified features and a vacant expression, was likely to distress young children and breach advertising codes. According to the ASA, one billboard displaying the poster was directly visible from a children's nursery, despite Warner Bros' claims that adverts were not placed within 100 metres of any school. The ASA upheld complaints regarding outdoor posters but not those about television or streaming ads for the film, which had been pre-approved with a post-19:30 scheduling restriction.
Written by AI on 2026-08-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned posters for the new movie The Mummy, starring Lee Cronin, from being displayed in areas where children could see them, including the London Underground. The decision was made after receiving 30 complaints about the promotional campaign, which showed a close-up image of a female mummy with sunken features and one eye swollen shut. Many complainants felt that the imagery was distressing for both kids and adults. Warner Bros, the distributor, argued that the poster did not intend to create fear or offense and was designed to be neutral. The character depicted in the poster is actually a "living mummy" who returns to her parents as an adult after being kidnapped as a child. The ASA required Warner Bros to remove the posters from areas where children could see them, but complaints about TV and streaming ads for the movie were not upheld by Clearcast.

Written for “Mummy Film Ad Banned” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mummy Film Ad Banned
Entertainment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

BBC News · 4753 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

BBC News
202 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by BBC News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
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Topics

ASA Global The Advertising Standards Authority Transport for London's Warner Bros

Subjects

ASA ORG · 4× Warner Bros ORG · 4× BBC London ORG · 1× BBC Radio London ORG · 1× Clearcast ORG · 1× Global ORG · 1× Lee Cronin PERSON · 1× Sounds ORG · 1× The Advertising Standards Authority ORG · 1× Transport for London's ORG · 1×

Narrative

Complaints regarding television and live streaming service adverts for the film were not upheld by the regulator, as Clearcast - which pre-approves TV and streaming ads - had applied a post-19:30 scheduling restriction.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-05
🔮 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 30 complaints regarding the promotional campaign for the Lee Cronin film and said the posters must not be displayed in areas where children could see them.
2026-08-05 · BBC News
The Mummy film ad banned from London Underground · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

- Published Posters for the new The Mummy film have been banned from the London Underground and other billboards after regulators said they included realistic depictions of a dead child. asserted
they → publish → child
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 30 complaints regarding the promotional campaign for the Lee Cronin film and said the posters must not be displayed in areas where children could see them. uncertain
children → receive → them
Many complainants argued the imagery was distressing for both children and adults. asserted
imagery → argue → children
Warner Bros defended the campaign, stating it had been prepared with "due responsibility to consumers and society" and was not designed to create fear or offence. asserted
it → defend → fear
The poster shows a close-up image of a female figure with a mummified appearance, sunken features and one eye swollen shut, alongside the tagline: "Some things are meant to stay buried." asserted
things → show → tagline
The distributor explained that the character depicted was a "living mummy" who was returned to her parents as a young adult, many years after having been kidnapped as a child. asserted
who → explain → child
It argued that the poster used a neutral facial expression while avoiding elements of violence or intimidation to reduce any risk of distress. asserted
poster → argue → distress
Warner Bros added that the design had been cleared by Transport for London's advertising partner, Global, for display across the London Underground network. asserted
design → add → network
However, the ASA upheld the complaints regarding the outdoor and Underground posters. asserted
ASA → uphold → posters
The watchdog noted that the figure's grey, ashen skin, cracked lips and fixed, vacant expression combined to give a "realistic impression of a dead child". asserted
skin → note → child
The ASA stated: "Because the figure had recognisable human features, we considered that viewers were likely to understand it as a realistic depiction of a dead child." asserted
viewers → state → child
It added that although Warner Bros confirmed adverts were not placed within 100 metres (328ft) of any school, one billboard was directly visible from a children's nursery. asserted
billboard → add → nursery
The regulator concluded: "We considered the image was likely to distress young children and that it was unsuitable for display where it was likely to be seen by them. " asserted
it → conclude → them
We therefore concluded that the ads were unsuitable for outdoor display and therefore breached the code." asserted
ads → conclude → code
Complaints regarding television and live streaming service adverts for the film were not upheld by the regulator, as Clearcast - which pre-approves TV and streaming ads - had applied a post-19:30 scheduling restriction. asserted
which → regard → restriction
The ASA also rejected separate complaints about posters and television adverts for another Warner Bros horror film, They Will Kill You. asserted
They → reject → You
Around 20 complainants had argued that those adverts glamorised violence and knife crime, but the watchdog ruled the imagery was highly stylised and clearly reflected the fictional nature of the film. asserted
imagery → argue → film
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