There’s nothing wrong with trying to get the word out about an upcoming movie, but maybe scaring the holy hell out of someone when they’re trying to watch a “Best Ways to Eat Avocados” video isn’t the best move. YouTube seems to agree, which is why they’ve pulled an ad for THE NUN that’s been causing nightmares and lots of children to run screaming to their parents.
The ad in question has been running for the last day or so and involved tricking the viewer into thinking there was something wrong with their volume setting, only for an image of the demon nun to burst into the screen. People were drawn to the attention of the brief ad by a Twitter user who warned viewers about how it began so they could look away – especially if they had anxiety problems. YouTube soon responded, saying it indeed violated their “Violent and Shocking Content in Ads” policy, which acts to prevent content that, among other things, is “likely to shock or scare,” or feature “Gratuitous bodily fluids or waste.” I wonder if we can make the case that all those Wix ads break any of those rules.
In case you missed the ad or are just hearing about it now you can watch it right here, but just know that by clicking the play button you’re opting into the terror.
Any child of the early days of the internet and video sharing has fond memories (or nightmares) of showing – or being shown – those trick videos where you watch a seemingly normal video only for a monstrous face to burst onto the screen. Think that video of the car driving in the mountains only for a zombie face to pop up, or the one where you have to play a maze game, only for the EXORCIST girl to pop up when you reach the end. Great ideas for pranks, but maybe not an ad people have to watch involuntarily.
They didn't need to put out this ad to make people understand this movie is going to be scary as hell, which you'll see for yourself when THE NUN comes out September 7.