• Marketing Business PC Console News Call of Duty ad banned in the UK for trivializing sexual violence The live action advert was first broadcast in November 2025 on YouTube and on-demand services. • February 18, 2026 The UKAdvertising Standards Agency(ASA) has banned a live actionCall of Duty: Black Ops 7after concluding it “trivialized sexual violence.” The advert (which can still be viewed on YouTube) depicts two ‘replacers’-agents who take over the day jobs of people who would rather be playing Call of Duty-posing as airport security officers. • Both replacers are shown pulling aside a passenger, who is informed they have been “randomly selected to be manhandled.” One officer takes a bottle of drugs from the passenger’s bag while licking her teeth and winking at her colleague. • She is then known equipping a pair of rubber gloves while the passenger is told to remove his clothes. • The officer wearing the gloves then says “time for the puppet show.” A post-credit scene shows the man being told to bite down on a handheld metal detector because the officer wearing gloves is “going in dry.” The advert was shown on YouTube and on demand services operated by Channel 5 and ITV. • Related:Tiktok refuses to axe racist AI-generated ads for Finji games Clearcast, an organization that reviews ads for broadcast in the UK, had approved the advertisement with an “ex-kids” timing restriction to ensure it would not be broadcast during or around children’s programming or content likely to appeal to under-16s.

Article Summaries:

  • The UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned a live‑action Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 advert for “trivialising sexual violence.” The ad, still viewable on YouTube, shows two “replacers” posing as airport security who subject a passenger to a humiliating, non‑consensual scenario involving drug use and forced exposure. Clearcast had previously approved the spot with an “ex‑kids” timing restriction, arguing it was a parodic, implausible scene. The ASA received nine complaints and, after review, ruled the humour relied on implied sexual violence, breaching CAP Code rules on social responsibility and harm. Activision Blizzard defended the ad as adult‑targeted, but the ASA ordered it removed.

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