U.K. Ad Standards Agency Bans Misleading "Tiger Woods 09" Spot

Ad For "Tiger Woods 09" On Wii Features Xbox Graphics

The U.K. Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned ads for EA Sports' "Tiger Woods 09" for the Wii after the group said that the spots were "misleading," according to Rob Crossley of EDGE ONLINE. The ads in question showed Woods "swinging the Wii Remote as footage from the Xbox 360 version of the game rolled into view," and the footage from the 360 version also "mimicked Tiger's action with the Wii Remote." The ASA in a statement said, "Electronic Arts confirmed that the footage in the ad was taken from the Xbox 360 version of the game. They pointed out that Tiger Woods was seen using a Wiimote throughout the ad and the only branding at the end of the ad was that of Nintendo Wii." The ASA added that EA "added text below the usurped footage which informed that the game was 'available on all formats' as a means to avoid confusion" (EDGE-ONLINE.com, 12/17). G4 Network's Brian Leahy noted the U.K. has "extremely strict laws about advertising," and the complaint was "upheld and the ad cannot run again in the UK without being edited" (G4TV.com, 12/17). EA said that footage from the Wii version of the game "would not be 'broadcast quality' and that no gameplay features shown in the ad are left out of the Wii version" (WIRED.com, 12/17).