Following Star Wars, Disney’s marketing team is again facing backlash — this time over Predator: Badlands — after UK regulators rebuked the studio for running a digital ad that allegedly scared children.
The controversy comes after the film already struggled at the box office, bombing theatrically and potentially losing as much as $80 million.
UK Regulator Slams “Severed Body” Ad
According to Deadline, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) censured Disney for a digital video poster that featured Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi’s character, Dek, holding what appeared to be a severed human body, Elle Fanning’s Thia.
The image showed the Predator lifting a smaller figure torn in half, with a visible spine, followed by the tagline: “Welcome to a world of hurt.”
The ASA received complaints from viewers who said the ad was “inappropriate and disturbing” for children. The regulator ultimately banned the ad in its current form, stating it was likely to “cause fear or distress for young children.”
The ASA said: “Whilst we acknowledged Twentieth Century Studio’s comment that the smaller figure was not actually a human, but rather a ‘synth’ robot, we considered that was not clear from the ad, and that the figure was likely to be interpreted as a human. We further considered that the realistic depiction of the smaller figure’s severed torso and exposed spine was gory and likely to be disturbing to younger children.”
Disney Says It Was a “Synth,” Not a Human
In correspondence with the ASA, Disney defended the ad, arguing that the severed figure was a “synth” — a robot — not a human.
The company added that the image appeared for less than two seconds within a 10-second trailer and was appropriate for the film’s rating and tone.
A Disney spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the ASA’s ruling. We take our responsibilities to audiences very seriously and strive to work closely with partners to meet the required standards.”
PG-13 Strategy Backfires
Predator: Badlands received a PG-13 rating, signaling a clear attempt to broaden the audience toward kids, especially compared to prior R-rated entries in the franchise.
Part of that strategy involved making the “humans” in the movie synthetic beings, allowing for violent Predator action without technically depicting human gore, which let the movie get a PG-13 rating instead of R.
However, the UK ad controversy undercuts that argument. Regulators ruled that viewers would reasonably interpret the severed body as human — not a robot — regardless of internal studio explanations.
The PG-13 rating also did nothing for the box office; it could be argued that it even hurt the performance.
Box Office Bomb and Fallout
The marketing misfire follows the film’s disappointing theatrical run.
Predator: Badlands bombed, earning only $184.5 million total – not even ranking in the top five of the franchise in today’s dollars – with our estimates suggesting losses could reach as high as $80 million.
Director Dan Trachtenberg has since signed with Paramount Pictures.
