Page 2 | What do you think of the Saw X adverts on the buses?

FoghornUnicorn · 21/09/2023 01:31

That’s really horrifying and inappropriate. I remember as a student being terrified of a horror film poster that had a scary clown on it, I had to walk past it on my way home from uni in the dark and it shit me up for weeks until it was covered over!

Disturbia81 · 21/09/2023 09:37

I love horror but no that definitely shouldn't be on buses. Anything with violence and gore shouldn't be seen in public, it's an 18 for a reason

VeridicalVagabond · 21/09/2023 09:42

I am a horror movie junkie and have always had a soft spot for the Saw franchise but even I think this is super weird to be plastered on the side of a bus.

Time and a place and all that.

Beenhereforever1978 · 21/09/2023 09:45

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 20/09/2023 19:18

A good few years ago, local buses carried a large ad for a film called “Thingy and Someone Else* Make a Porno.” That was a fun explanation to my 6 and 7 year olds.

I found myself channelling my inner Mary Whitehouse.

*Can’t remember the names, and for obvious reasons, I’m not googling the film.

For the first and only time in my life I complained about that ad!

I got a response along the lines of "it's not for us to care about how you explain that to your daughter". Nice

WhatNoRaisins · 21/09/2023 10:37

Same bus again today on the school run! Managed to distract by looking at a holly bush. Maybe I should consider breakfast club

AvengedQuince · 21/09/2023 10:44

sashagabadon · 20/09/2023 16:31

Is that a london bus? Tfl won’t allow ads for cakes due to sugar on the tube and yet allows that ad?

Or artisan cheese, in case poor children eat too much expensive cheese and become overweight 🙄

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 21/09/2023 10:48

We live in very strange times where extreme images and video (sexual and i violence) are both too easily accessible and normalised.

It scares me.

Who the F actually watches a film that basically conjures up more inventive ways to torture people? I really believe that if you enjoy watching this then there's something not quite right with you.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 21/09/2023 10:49

Rather if you enjoy watching.

Sorry, no edit function on app for me

BubziOwl · 21/09/2023 10:52

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 21/09/2023 10:48

We live in very strange times where extreme images and video (sexual and i violence) are both too easily accessible and normalised.

It scares me.

Who the F actually watches a film that basically conjures up more inventive ways to torture people? I really believe that if you enjoy watching this then there's something not quite right with you.

Ive had many an argument about this. I totally agree with you.

MortifiedSeptember · 21/09/2023 10:55

It is on London busses and I had to lie to my dc and say, they were weird glasses and a statue.

It should not be allowed on busses

LostThestral · 21/09/2023 11:01

I haven't seen the advert but wouldn't put 2 & 2 together & think he was getting his eyes sucked out so hopefully children wouldn't either.

CallieQ · 21/09/2023 11:01

Privacymatters · 20/09/2023 16:09

What do you think when your kids are seeing adverts for the SAW movie on buses?
Currently there are buses displaying images of a man getting the eyeballs sucked out of his head using a machine. Do you think this is ok?

picture of a bus on Reddit

Not ok and the tv ad is very scary too

Myneighboursarewankers · 21/09/2023 11:02

BabyFireflyx · 21/09/2023 01:23

Couldn't complain. There's no explanation of the image, nor what the device is and what it will go on to do. Most young kids won't bat an eyelid, even if they did ask then obviously you'd just tell them it's an advert for some film. Around here we've got a bit more to be worried about in real life, stabbings, shootings, teenage gangs. It's a picture not a clip of the actual movie scene playing.

Exactly. I really don’t see how anyone could get upset about this especially enough to make a complaint. Just tell your child they are looking through some kind of lense they won’t know any different. People are really too sensitive

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 21/09/2023 11:04

LostThestral · 21/09/2023 11:01

I haven't seen the advert but wouldn't put 2 & 2 together & think he was getting his eyes sucked out so hopefully children wouldn't either.

In a way this actually makes it worse. I'm plain sight and all that (no pun intended)

AprQ · 21/09/2023 11:07

BabyFireflyx · 21/09/2023 01:23

Couldn't complain. There's no explanation of the image, nor what the device is and what it will go on to do. Most young kids won't bat an eyelid, even if they did ask then obviously you'd just tell them it's an advert for some film. Around here we've got a bit more to be worried about in real life, stabbings, shootings, teenage gangs. It's a picture not a clip of the actual movie scene playing.

Yep. Taking the time out of your day to complain about this picture is actually quite baffling to me. I’ve seen this picture so many times and I never even realised that the man’s eyes are being pulled out.

I really don’t think it’s that obvious for a child. You’d just tell them that they’re looking out of some sort of lens but again, I can’t see most children understanding the context anyway

Original poster

Privacymatters · 21/09/2023 11:54

I think a child will understand perfectly that this could be done to them. Because its a picture of it being done to a human beings. The advert says an eye for an eye so its clear that an eye is being taken and one given in exchange & there is a tube. Its not rocket science and kids are not stupid.

If it frightens adults then whats it gonna do to a kid that understands it?

OP posts:

sugarplum33 · 21/09/2023 13:06

I actually don't think it is that clear @Privacymatters

'An eye for an eye' nowadays is a general phrase related to punishment being equal to crime. In this context it's obviously a deliberate play on words to reference the victim's eyes but if a child is familiar with the phrase they should understand it isn't just literally talking about eyes. Also I don't think the trap does involve any 'exchange' of eyes, I would imagine the phrase actually refers to the victim having done something bad in their lives and their punishment is in the form of this trap, which is the premise of the films. I think it's a stretch to think that children would automatically jump to the same conclusions as you have around exchanging eyes.

That being said, the poster is completely inappropriate. I don't think it's necessarily obvious what is happening and I wouldn't have guessed they were tubes sucking his eyes out but that shouldn't be the point. What is happening is a human is being portrayed as being tortured and having their eyes removed. Even if kids don't pick up on that or it can easily be explained away, it shouldn't be shown anyway. Material aimed solely at adults depicting violence, sex or any other inappropriate content should not be freely accessible to children, whether or not it's immediately obvious what is happening. We could blur out some bits and show children pornographic material and just explain it away as adults making funny noises or 'having a cuddle' but that obviously isn't okay. Nor is it okay to blatantly expose them to images of simulated violence and torture and put the onus on children to not grasp the content or on adults to explain it away.

123hyoung · 21/09/2023 14:16

im also in process of complaining, my child has big imagination and although she doesn’t understand the image fully (at 5 yrs old) she can feel and understand the violence and terror it incites. its unethical to have this image so big all over the city with un developed brains which cant choose to filter out violence like adults can.

Jackiebrambles · 21/09/2023 14:20

I saw this ad early this week and thought exactly the same thing - it’s a really scary image I think my daughter would be quite upset by it and she’s not that sensitive!! And on a bus, I think it’s awful.

REP22 · 21/09/2023 14:27

That's horrible and upsetting. Not appropriate for a bus. I remember there was a particularly grotesque one a few years ago in tube stations for one of the later Final Destination films, which ultimately ended up getting removed and banned by the ASA. A number of very young children had seen it and been deeply distressed.

AprQ · 21/09/2023 14:54

Imo if the child is hold enough to understand the phrase ‘an eye for ay eye’ and relate that to the picture then maybe, just maybe, they’re old enough to understand the explanation that this is just a film and isn’t real?

It may not stop the picture ‘shocking’ then but there should no longer be fear as they know it isn’t real. I honestly thought you were talking about 4-8 year olds who would look at the picture, understand it and be scared. What child of that age is familiar with the eye for an eye phrase yet alone understands it?

Anyway there’s no point in going back and forth. I’ve seen the advert about 5 times today! Complaints on the internet won’t change that unfortunately

AvengedQuince · 21/09/2023 15:42

AprQ · 21/09/2023 14:54

Imo if the child is hold enough to understand the phrase ‘an eye for ay eye’ and relate that to the picture then maybe, just maybe, they’re old enough to understand the explanation that this is just a film and isn’t real?

It may not stop the picture ‘shocking’ then but there should no longer be fear as they know it isn’t real. I honestly thought you were talking about 4-8 year olds who would look at the picture, understand it and be scared. What child of that age is familiar with the eye for an eye phrase yet alone understands it?

Anyway there’s no point in going back and forth. I’ve seen the advert about 5 times today! Complaints on the internet won’t change that unfortunately

These kind of films frighten many adults despite them understanding it's just a film. I have experienced real fear and recurring nightmares as a young adult from films. I no longer choose to watch anything like this and don't want to be shown these images in public against my will.

Naomiking · 23/09/2023 19:48

Yeah I saw this the other day and my son got scared I think this is unacceptable and disturbing

Lintong · 29/09/2023 21:48

ASA responded to me yesterday saying that they've only had 130 complaints nationally. If you really do want them to take action about this then, please make a complaint directly.

balrogevans · 10/10/2023 18:18

agreed, my son saw the poster on the bus and he had nightmares of it for weeks

this is sadiq khan's london