ONLINE CAMPAIGN FOR UNTRACEABLE HALTED

A moderator for the Facebook online social community has halted a marketing campaign for Universal Pictures' Untraceable after becoming alarmed by the level of violence in the clips posted online. Launched last week, the "Kill With Me" page for the movie presented the following text: "This guy is going to die. You want to see his stinking flesh burn and bleed and blacken? Until he's some twisted dead thing? This is what you want. And I've filmed it especially for you. The more fans I get, the more I'll show." Neil Wirashina, director of international advertising media at Universal, told Marketing Week's online site, that the Facebook campaign was intended to be provocative. "We were looking to promote a reaction, and we have definitely achieved this." The controversy raises questions about what actually constitutes advertising in the day of the Internet and which ads must be submitted to the MPAA for ratings approval. The MPAA has previously fined studios for releasing ads that it deemed excessively violent and which had not been previously approved by the group's ratings board.

27/02/2008