Severed Body in 'Predator: Badlands' Trailer Gets Disney in Trouble Overseas

A TV spot for Predator: Badlands has been banned in the United Kingdom following a ruling that it's imagery of a severed human body could "cause fear or distress for young children." (via Deadline)

Disney has been slammed by the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority, which claims that the commercial is "innopropriate and disturbing" for young audiences.

'Predator: Badlands' Ad Features A Body Sliced In Half

Elle Fanning plays Thia in Predator: Badlands, a humanoid "synth" whose body is severed at the waist after her team crash-lands on an alien planet. When she meets Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi's character Dek, he lifts her disembodied torso in the air. This two-second clip was included in Disney's most recent TV spot for the film.

The ASA immediately received complaints about the commercial, which cited young audiences who'd been disturbed by the imagery on display. Disney defended the commercial, denying that they had breached their "sense of responsibility".

Disney argued that since Fanning's character is not a human, but rather an android "synth", the circumstances are not valid. Interestingly, this is also how Disney got around the film's PG-13 rating, arguing that since synths don't bleed (and the Predator's blood isn't red), there is no "gore" in the film.

The ASA rejected this explanation, claiming: "Whilst we acknowledged Twentieth Century Studio’s comment that the smaller figure was not actually a human, but rather a ‘synth’ robot, we considered that was not clear from the ad, and that the figure was likely to be interpreted as a human.

We further considered that the realistic depiction of the smaller figure’s severed torso and exposed spine was gory and likely to be disturbing to younger children.”

Disney has ultimately accepted the ASA's ruling and agreed to stop running the commercial in its current form.