Tesco and 2 life size men with machine guns advertising Call of Duty at the entrance - 18

[atiredmum]

I think this is unreasonable, what do other mums think? To walk into the local supermarket and face two huge men with machine guns (on cardboard). Obviously they are adverts but you can't miss them and I know that young children will stop, stare and ask loads of questions. This stuff doesn't need to be in their young faces grrrrrr . Are they in other Tesco's right at the front where you can not avoid them????

Hee hee, I love your marker pen idea Sue .

really?

:) love the marker pen idea to haha. Shame it's right at the entrance where the security stands about 5 metres away!

dear god.... I do wonder if I have been transported to some weird universe at times...

they are cardboard cut outs... not real...

just wait till you go to an airport and see real men with real guns

I personally hate guns and things in games/as toys ever since I went shooting in the States (targets, not animals!) and realised exactly how scary they are.

Interestingly, DP, as the owner of a shotgun (and appropriate licence) feels the same...

So, I think YANBU, but can understand why a lot of people think YABU.

Been to quite a few airports and lots of men with machine guns :) Quite easy to explain. I suppose man with a machine gun in Tesco is there for a reason to :)

Those cardboard policemen scare the crap out of me

to control all the MNers with trolley rage...

I've been to lots of airports with men with real guns. I can even shoot some guns! Bin trained and everything! Cut-outs in Tesco is still shit tho'.

I would say it is quite easy to explain a cardboard cut out then... they are characters from a game that grown ups play....

I assume they are not standing there with a bloodied bullet ridden cardboard corpse at their feet.

Squeaky if I had the time, I would so be dressing up as a corpse to nip to Tesco and lie on the floor in front of the Cardboard pretend soldiers.

Hilarious!

No it's a hunk with a machine gun :)

Breaking news; world exists outside of parenthood! What a scoop!

YABU.

In part Iron, but also I don't particularly want a life-size bloke with a machine gun cut-out welcoming me when I go shopping. I'd like a nice, friendly experience, not some icon to militaristic/gangsta shit, or whatever it is.

tescos have a lot of tolleys with dodgy wheels that are difficult to steer.

shame if you lost control with a fully laden trolley complain loudly about the need for trolley maintenance if you have an accident!

I've obviously been brainwashed by spending far too much time surrounded by teenage boys but the ads don't bother me in the slightest. I was just delighted that ds was one of the boys who didn't queue outside Game at midnight on Monday night and bunk off school on Tuesday. he's restrained himself into just ordering it today for delivery on Sat.

Fair enough, Pan, but lots of people do love CoD - no matter how you disagree with what they're selling, ads will be ads.

And I prefer the more obvious, dismissable ad campaigns like CoD's than the insidious and pervasive ads from certain other companies (dare I mention the Iceland and Littlewoods ads...?).

Oh dear. Better hide all the pictures of my husband in uniform from the kids and make sure they're blindfolded when he's around the house in his combats.

God forbid the sight of a soldier - cardboard or flesh andblood - should scar their little psyches. As the husband is about to depart for dusty climes, should I also not mention that and just pretend he's on holiday?

YAB a wee bit precious and U.

nah jcscot - there is quite a diference between your hubby going off to shoot people abroad ,and having a big cardboard thing in a shopping place. It isn't about scarring psyches ( tho' war does enough of that) it's about 'taste'.

So the profession of arms is "bad taste"? I rather thought it was an old and honourable way of earning a living.

In all fairness, taste is subjective - hubby is a charming endearment to some people and a teeth-grindingly ghastly word to others, for example.

I don't see what's so offensive about the adverts (our local supermarket has them) and I'm no fan of shoot 'em up games/media.

tbh killing people is a shit way of 'earning a living' but that's another thread. No, by 'taste' I was referring to having the cut out's in a supermarket. but we differ.
night.

Okay, I agree that something as pervasive as CoD doesn't need big eff-off displays outside a major retailer - CoD fans will know the game's out and where to buy it. So yes, Tesco's guilty of overkill (fnar fnar).

But I'm wary of damning ads simply because they feature things some aren't comfortable with. I get p*ssed off with nappy ads with simpery-softy females wafting around in pastel cardigans and kissing babies arses. Advertiser defined gender-specific bollocks, in other words.

One is as bad as the other. If I can put up with pink n' frilly mums ads, then I can put up with guns 'n grenades bloke ads. Guess it's up to parents to tell their kiddos that advertising in general's a load of old balls. There's no escaping it, after all...until I rule the world (bwahahaha, etc.).

Also, jcscot; though I have conflicting opinions, I just wanted to make a few things clear - I do not think your husband's occupation is 'bad taste', nor consider his motivation to join the armed forces as 'going off to shoot people abroad'.

YANBU I get sick of the insidious and normalising exposure towards weapons designed to harm.

Never thought you did, IronOrchid. .

My tongue is stuck firmly in my cheek - I am well aware that there are uncomfortable aspects to my husband's job and I have no issue with anyone drawing attention to those aspects. Debate and discussion is a good thing.

However, I do find myself rolling my eyes at people who get all het up about the image of a soldier carrying their weapon as though it's innately offensive. I've never played that sort of game so I can't say whether the game is offensive but surely it xan't be worse than the average action film?