"Distressing" Halloween Clown Posters Investigated By Watchdog Following Complaints

    The Advertising Standards Authority confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it had launched an inquiry after receiving a series of complaints.

    A poster campaign for a Halloween attraction in Norfolk is being investigating after complaints that it is potentially distressing to children.

    The advert is for PrimEvil, an over-12s event taking place at the Dinosaur Adventure Park in Lenwade later this month.

    The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told BuzzFeed News it has received 21 complaints about the posters.

    One of those complaints was made by Johannah Martin, who told the BBC she did so after her daughter became upset by one of the posters in Rackheath.

    "If you take your child to a shop to look at horrific masks and outfits, that is your choice," she said. "We had no choice but to see this."

    Goymour Properties, which runs PrimEvil, claims that the posters, which have been up since early September, do not contravene advertising standards, the BBC reported.

    "The clown compares very favourably to some of the posters used to promote films, such as the Batman and Joker film," owner Martin Goymour told the BBC.

    "We deliberately did not use bloody or gory images."

    However, Goymour told the Peterborough Telegraph that 12 posters had now been removed from around schools.

    The ASA has now launched an investigation into the complaints and has put the claims to the company.