Suburb Joins Toronto in Removing Killzone 2 Ads From Bus Shelters

I wish my parents were dumb enough that I could have used a monster excuse to not go to school.  I had to fake throwing up if I wanted stay home.  I've seen lots of scarier ads than Killzone 2. Kid's aren't tough enough nowadays.  You should teach your kid to be afraid of stuff they should be afraid of, like drain cleaner, moving vehicles, and their government, not a poster of something with red eyes.  By taking it away, they aren't helping the kid overcome his irrational fears, they're just trying to solve the problem quickly without trying to be a parent/teacher.  They could get out and show him that it's just a piece of paper and it's lights in a helmet that makes it glow and do research and find out it's actually a dude that looks like a human under there, but no, they don't.  Instead they make a big fuss just because they get their kicks off of power trips and making big deals out of nothing.  I hope since their ad was taken down, Guerrilla Games, or whoever paid for them there, get their money back.  To be honest, I would be more concerned that my kid was being bullied, or mistreated by students, or teachers, than being afraid of the sign.  Kids will usually look for excuses to avoid telling their parents something that embarrasses them.  Maybe the kid was afraid, IDK, but I think I'd spend more time looking into that than trying to get the sign taken down.

PSN: bracomadar

The kid was only three years old I doubt he'd put that much planning into getting out of school, plus isn't school not really that bad at that age?

It's a big head with glowing read eyes, how is it hard to see that being scary to a three year old?

I think some of you guys sometimes see scapegoating or bad intentions where there aren't any.

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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.

Well... I grew up in York Region and I can see this.  Many, many kids walk to school but may very well walk by these ads.  That being said, the transit system isn't used all that much by kids in comparison to the city.  Nonetheless, I can see them not wanting those ads around.  However, two things bother me:

1. They accepted the ads in the first place. I mean, c'mon.  Controversy over video game ads is not new but if they had any worries they should have rejected it outright.  Who's behind the wheel on this one at YRT? (I know, bad pun.)

2. The spokesperson is a little disingenous with the tobacco example.  Tobacco is NEVER allowed to be advertised.   It's actually illegal here.  Convenience stores can't even have the cigarettes visible (they have to be in closed drawers or cupboards).  Stating it like it was their decision to PROTECT CHILDREN FROM TOBACCO is ludicrous and it just sounds like they're using this as a PR stunt to say "Look how conscientious we are!"

Not to sound heartless, but I doubt it was really the poster.

He could have been being bullied and was crying over that, and the parent assumed it was over the poster.

ANd is Sony relaly so tactless as to advertise that close to a school? I though game companies didn't do that.

I think the kids wasn't really scared, he just want to skip school. Really, how many kids are actually going scared of a poster. Most are going to think that it's cool. It's only a picture, it's not like a movie.

All this over a menacing head with glowing eyes?

Makes me think twice about putting out a Jack-O-Lantern next Halloween. Might scare the children.

I'm sorry the kid got frightened.  Really, I am...kinda...

 But if there's a certain day-care center in the middle of the city of Charlotte, NC, and one of the parents of one of the children that attends the day-care center happens to complain about a Killzone 2 add that they saw, is Sony still advertising to minors?  In the MIDDLE of the city?!

"HEY! LISTEN!"

Yeah I can see the big red eyes frightening a little 5 year old...but if I saw that as a kid, I would have gone "WHOA! COOL!"