Zombie Queen Mary yanked from London digital escalator campaign

July 20, 2010 by Dave Haynes

From London – via the Telegraph – comes news that a marketing campaign on digital screens that cascade down the sides of escalator areas in the London Tube system have been pulled because they were, well, too effective.

They were scaring the crap out of little kids.

An advert for the London Dungeon has been banned after terrifying children by showing Queen Mary I of England turning into a flesh-eating zombie.

The digital poster, which was placed on escalators on the London Underground, showed the infamous Queen sitting passively on a chair before suddenly turning into a member of the undead and turning to face towards tube passengers.

Four people complained that the zombie – complete with bloody gashes on her face, rotting teeth and red eyes – had terrified their children.

One man said his eight-year-old child was left terrified by the moving digital poster and another complainant said he had watched scores of kids reel in horror when they saw the poster.

The London Dungeon in south London was promoting a new show called ‘Bloody Mary’ – the daughter of Henry VIII who reigned between 1553 until 1558.

During that time she had 300 religious dissenters burned at the stake, earning her the title ‘Bloody Mary’, and dungeon bosses said the object of the ad was to ‘show the dark side of her personality and portray her as a villain’.

The ads were supposed to run all summer, and running spots in the London Underground are not cheap – but the attraction is now getting a pile of free publicity.

Photo by Stian Alexander/UK Telegraph