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An advert for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been banned by the UK’s advertising regulator for trivialising sexual violence. The commercial showed fake officers at an airport security check, suggesting the real officers were too busy playing the game. Viewers complained after a scene in which a man was told to strip while an officer put on gloves and said "time for the puppet show"; the regulator found the ad irresponsible and offensive.
Gaming company Activision Blizzard UK Ltd said the ad promoted the 18-rated video game and was therefore targeted at adult audiences only, who had a higher tolerance for irreverent or exaggerated humour.
The spot ran on YouTube and video on demand services, including ITV and Channel 5, in November 2025. It was one of several used to promote the latest game in the Call of Duty series.
The campaign featured the idea that replacements had to step into different job roles, because the original staff were playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 instead.
The ad in question featured an airport security setting, with one actor explaining they were the "replacers". A man was then told he had been randomly selected "to be manhandled" before being told to remove his clothes down to "everything but the shoes", while the female officer put on a pair of gloves.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints from nine viewers who believed the ad trivialised sexual violence.
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd said the ad had been reviewed by Clearcast, which provides pre-clearance of TV advertising, and had been approved with an "ex-kids" timing restriction.
It added it was not broadcast during or around children's programming or content likely to appeal to under-16s.
The company claimed it depicted a deliberately implausible, parodic scenario that bore no resemblance to real airport security procedures.
According to the firm, the ad in question did not sexualise the act of performing searches - and that the humour referred to discomfort rather than sex.
It added that even if some viewers inferred innuendo, it did not contain explicit content or objectifying imagery.
The ASA said the story included a non-consensual, invasive search of a man passing through airport security. However, it acknowledged the video did not include explicit imagery and the man remained clothed for its duration. But the watchdog noted the humour was "generated by the humiliation and implied threat of painful, non-consensual penetration of the man".
The ASA concluded that the advert trivialised sexual violence and was therefore irresponsible and offensive.
It therefore ruled the ad must not appear again in its current form.
