It's ok to troll Christians

[Gob]

Just trolling: It's OK to poke fun at Christians, says ASA

Film ad claimed monsters can smell God botherer blood

Posted in Music and Media, 16th November 2011 15:44 GMT

The fact that trolls can smell Christian blood is well-known, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has ruled, and a reference to it in a fake job advert used to promote a film was unlikely to cause widespread offence, it said today.

After receiving two complaints about the advert "Troll Hunters Required" listed in The Guardian's Jobs section, the watchdog investigated the ad for breach of their Harm and Offence and Social Responsibility guidelines.

But today the ASA quashed the claim, ruling that the line "TROLLS CAN SMELL GOD-FEARING BLOOD – CHRISTIANS NEED NOT APPLY" might be distasteful but was not offensive. The ASA said the advert was a "light-hearted play on the fairy-tale theme" that most readers would recognise as a reference to an old myth.

The spoof ad, titled "Troll Hunters required", ran in The Guardian newspaper and on Guardian Online, as part of a media campaign to drive consumers to the Troll Hunter Facebook page to "apply" for the positions.

The advert read:

TROLL HUNTERS REQUIRED: APPLICANTS MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE OF HUNTING LARGE GAME, MUST BE COMFORTABLE WORKING INDEPENDENTLY AND AT NIGHT. TROLLS CAN SMELL GOD-FEARING BLOOD – CHRISTIANS NEED NOT APPLY. COMPETITIVE SALARY ON COMMISSION.

Momentum Pictures defended the advert saying "that mythical stories about trolls told how they were able to smell Christian blood; a theme that featured in the film".

One further Guardian reader complained to the ASA that it was misleading to list the advert in the jobs section when it wasn't a job, but the agency ruled that the references to blood and trolls make clear that it was a "fantastical and fictional" piece.

Though the ASA has put it in the clear, Momentum Pictures has replaced its original wording with a softer, less religion-specific message: "Trolls can smell God-fearing blood, believers apply at their own risk." ®


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/16 ... ob_advert/

[dales]

Is it OK to troll Muslims or Jews or Hindus or anyone for that matter?

It would depend on the context, I suppose.

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum.....I smell the blood of an Englishman.

[Rick]

That was a giant not a troll, and probably a member of the Church of England.

Are they Christians?

[loCAtek]

They're just indoctrinated into a man-made religion.

...so, what was the movie called?

[Rick]

Jack and the bean stalk.

Oh wait you weren't asking me...

[loCAtek]

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum.....I smell the blood of an Englishman.

Never noticed that... do only the English smell?

[Rick]

The movie is called Troll Hunter.

It appears to be a Norwegian "Cloverfield"...

[Gob]

It appears to be a Norwegian "Cloverfield"...

The mind boggles

[loCAtek]

oh dear Dog, tell me it's not Troll 2, it's not?

[dales]

Never noticed that... do only the English smell?

Unless their noses aren't plugged up.

[loCAtek]

Jack and the bean stalk.

Oh wait you weren't asking me...

It was a general question

Cloverfield wasn't bad, it had it's moments, but this just looks silly;

[loCAtek]

I don't really get this new 'Shake the camera' school of filmography. That can work for a scene or two, but when it's for the whole movie it just gets tiresome.

Shoot, the troops shoot real videos out in the field that have steadier footage. So, the whole idea of- 'if it's bad camera work, it's more real', doesn't really cut it.

[Rick]

It's supposed to be silly.

It's a "mockumentary" ...