Advert for App game showing a man about to STRIKE a woman with a chair is banned

‘Socially irresponsible’ advert for App game showing a man about to STRIKE a woman with a chair is banned as ASA rules it ‘trivialised and condoned’ domestic violence

  • AppQuantum Publishing said that they thought the advert would be ‘humorous’
  • But Advertising Standards Agency said the in-game ad breached its standards
  • Ad shows man about to hit woman with a chair but stops when he sees the game
  • AddQuantum Publishing has apologised and removed the ad from circulation 


An ad for a mobile app game that appeared to show a man almost strike a woman with a chair has been banned by the advertising watchdog.

The advertiser said they thought the advert would be ‘humorous’ but the Advertising Standards Agency ruled it ‘trivialised and condoned the serious and sensitive subject of domestic violence’.

The in-app ad for the Gold And Goblins game included a video of a woman playing a game on her mobile phone, while behind her a man picked up a chair and drew it back over his head as if he was about to strike her with it.

The man appears to almost hit the woman with the chair but gets distracted by the mobile game she is playing

An ad for a mobile game Gold and Goblins that appeared to show a man almost strike a woman with a chair until he is distracted by the game has been banned by the advertising watchdog

The ad then showed the man get distracted by the game and, instead of hitting her with the chair, watches the phone over the woman’s shoulder as she continues to play.

Two complainants, who believed that the ad encouraged domestic violence, said it was offensive and socially irresponsible.

AppQuantum Publishing said they would immediately stop running the ad, seen in the Hooked Inc: Fishing Games and Quizzland apps in September, across all their platforms.

They said they had intended the ad to be humorous in nature, and apologised for any offence it might have caused.

The advert was for Gold and Goblins and has now been banned by the ASA after two complaints were received

The advert was for Gold and Goblins and has now been banned by the ASA after two complaints were received

Lion Studios, the developer of Hooked Inc: Fishing Games, said they allowed third-party advertisers to publish ads in their mobile app games.

Lion Studios said they believed that the onus was on the ad platforms and advertisers to ensure that ads complied with applicable laws and regulations, and had taken measures to prevent it from appearing in their games.

Familia App Developers, the developer of Quizzland, said they had updated their settings to block similar ads from appearing in their games in the future.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said: ‘The ad depicted a man about to assault a woman, and we considered that consumers would understand from the context of the setting that it was because her attention was focused on the game she was playing, rather than on the man.

‘We considered that such a reference used in an ad for a mobile app game trivialised and condoned the serious and sensitive subject of domestic violence.

‘This was likely to cause serious and widespread offence, and we considered the ad had not been prepared in a socially responsible manner.

‘We therefore concluded that the ad breached the code.’