YouTube has banned a trailer for the upcoming horror movie The Nun for being too scary, Yahoo News is reporting.
OK, “banned” may be too strong of a word, since the video is still on YouTube, and indeed, it’s embedded in this article for you to watch. Here’s what’s going on.
As you’re well aware if you visit YouTube frequently, you often have to sit through ads. Well, the trailer in question, officially titled “volume ad,” is one of those ads. However, it’s also a bit deceptive. Meant to trick users into thinking there’s a problem with their volume, the video is silent for the first few seconds. Then, at the end, the horrifying image of the demonic nun – the being the movie is named after – appears out of nowhere, accompanied by a loud scream – a classic jump scare in every sense of the word.
Here, see for yourself (you’ve been warned).
https://youtu.be/DR-K9zOd-Bc
As an ad for a movie, it’s pretty effective, to say the least. But, there are a couple of problems with it. First, it’s deceptive. Second, it wasn’t specifically targeted to YouTube users who were looking for The Nun trailers, or for horror content at all.
Long story short, it scared the pants off several users, who reported it to YouTube for violating their “shocking content” policies. YouTube agreed, and now the trailer will no longer appear as an ad.
Appreciate you bringing this to our attention! This ad violates our shocking content policy and it’s no longer running as an ad. More info here: https://t.co/dOUocjUevh
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) August 14, 2018
However, as The Verge reports, no publicity is bad publicity, and the “banned” video certainly succeeded on one level: it got people talking about The Nun .
“Not only has the ad now received the kind of organic, viral notoriety campaigns used to aim for — think Blair Witch Project — but YouTube’s removal makes it infinitely more interesting.”
YouTube Has Pulled That Jump Scare Ad for ‘The Nun’ for Violating Its “Shocking Content Policy” https://t.co/mi7xOdMVNj
— Bloody Disgusting (@BDisgusting) August 14, 2018
If you’re not familiar with The Nun or what it’s about, here’s an actual trailer that gives you some more information, rather than just cheap jump scares.
The Nun takes place within the universe of the movies of The Conjuring . The original 2013 movie is a fictionalized account of real-life “demonologists” Ed and Lorraine Warren, and their experiences with a Rhode Island family that claimed to be bedeviled by paranormal entities.
The original entry was a smashing box-office success, and the film has expanded to sequels, prequels, standalone movies, and other projects all within the same universe, and all based to some degree or another on “true” stories.
The Nun hits theaters on September 6.
