They are not floating with joy “down undah.” One parent in Brisbane, Australia has filed a formal complaint over a roadside ‘It: Chapter Two’ billboard because it frightens children. Speaking to local 9News, a parent named Kellie said, “[The billboard] just totally freaks them out.”
Her daughter Piper told the news outlet:
“I get really scared because it’s hard to go to bed when you have a scary picture in your mind. Before I go to bed, I have to check the whole room, and when I finally go to bed I will wake up after a nightmare.”
(Yeah, everyone does that. That’s how sleeping works.)
Another parent, Jane Swan stated:
“Some people do enjoy going to horror movies and that’s fine and that’s their choice, and I understand that but we’re not choosing to see this poster.”
(I have a frog phobia… shut up, it’s a real thing. I didn’t choose to see that giant frog billboard when the local aquarium had a freakin’ frog exhibit. I didn’t file a complaint. I just drove in an unsafe manner as I used my hand to block the billboard and all the cars and everything else on my right side as I drove past.)
It was Swan who filed the complaint with Ad Standards, stating that advertisements for movies with a rating of MA15+ (equal to an R in the US) should not be posted in areas “frequented by children.” Their response was:
“Ad Standards generally has no jurisdiction over the placement or timing of advertisements, except when considering the use of language or sex, sexuality or nudity in advertising.”
For the record, this is the ad in question:
Parents say advertising for an upcoming horror film should be banned from roadside billboards because the image is scaring their children. #9Newshttps://t.co/fKeKcCdpHf
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) August 30, 2019
As far as horror movies go, this poster isn’t that bad. Technically, it’s just a clown’s face.
Would that image give you nightmares?
‘It: Chapter Two’ opens in theaters this weekend.
