OTTAWA – Fox Sports World Canada got body slammed by The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) for running a promotional spot for the International Fight League (IFL) that included repeated images of bloody faces and provocative voice-overs highlighting the fighting. The CBSC ruled today that airing the promo at approximately 7 p.m. contravened the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Violence Code.
The promo advertised IFL programming, which is known as ultimate fighting or mixed martial arts. The sport involves punching, kicking and grappling moves, and the combatants wear little or no protective gear. The spot included scenes from various matches showing bloodied participants, as well as voice-over comments, such as: “I came to hurt somebody, hurt somebody” and “there’s no better feeling than crackin the guy in the chin, watching his crippled carcass go face down on the mat, wakin him up and showing him [… he] just got knocked out.”
The promo aired during a sports news program that focused on sports from the United Kingdom, such as soccer and cricket. The CBSC received a complaint from a viewer who was not concerned about the airing of IFL programming, but was troubled by promos for it broadcast during other programs that young people watch.
The National Specialty Services panel examined the complaint under Article 3.2 of the CAB Violence Code which states that promotional material which contains scenes of violence intended for adult audiences shall not be telecast before 9 p.m. The panel concluded that, even though some episodes of IFL may be acceptable to broadcast before 9:00 pm, this promo contained a concentration of adult material requiring it to be relegated to a post-9:00 p.m. time slot.
The panel added that it considers that a promotional spot can be so edited and constructed that the resulting promo constitutes adult material even if the program which it advertises does not. It concluded that the 30-second spot, created a “harsh physical and gory effect, one which, in the view of the panel, is exclusively appropriate for adult audiences.” Consequently, the panel concludes that the broadcast of the challenged promotional spot was in violation of Article 3.2 of the CAB Violence Code.
