While complaints that a horror movie is too scary would usually be considered a job well done by its filmmakers, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy may have gone too far with its promotional campaign.
The upcoming film from the Evil Dead director has been criticised for its “terrifying” poster, with some complaining that it shouldn’t appear in London underground stations.
The Mummy follows a journalist whose daughter goes missing in the desert before suddenly returning eight years later in an undead state, having been found in a sarcophagus. Its poster, which is currently being shown in tube stations across the UK, shows a mummified child with chapped lips and one eye half-closed, wrapped in bandages covered in hieroglyphics.
Just submitted my complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about this poster ad at tube stations. Why is there so little consideration of the impact of such images on children? (And one might add, on bereaved parents). pic.twitter.com/gjwca6YDdX
— Samira Ahmed (@SamiraAhmedUK) April 15, 2026
Taking to social media, BBC Radio 4 presenter Samira Ahmed revealed that she had submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the poster over it being inappropriate for kids to see.
“Why is there so little consideration of the impact of such images on children? (And one might add, on bereaved parents),” she wrote on X.
Journalist and author Rebecca Reid also shared the tweet, writing: “I’m usually very chilled about ads, but I have to echo Samira’s sentiment. This absolutely terrified my three-year-old last week. No fast food, no women wearing sheer tights, but horror is fine?”
Another person said: “It’s a photo-realistic image of a child corpse. If people can’t understand how that might be distressing, it says far more about their brain rot than anything else.”
Others saw the funny side however, with one writing: “Your gonna hate when you hear what they have on display at the British Museum [sic].”
Another said on X: “I personally don’t see the problem. It’s a poster for a fcuking movie [sic].”
The ASA confirmed to The Independent that it had received complaints about the posters “challenging whether the ads are unsuitable to be seen by children” and is currently assessing whether there are grounds for further action – however, an investigation has not yet been launched.
The Independent has reached out to Warner Bros Pictures for comment.
As per the ASA’s rules, marketing communications must not cause fear or distress without justifiable reason, adding: “If it can be justified, the fear or distress should not be excessive.”
This won’t be Cronin’s first run-in with the ASA; his 2023 film Evil Dead Rise was investigated by the watchdog over two adverts it was running on streaming sites.
While Studiocanal, which produced the film, said that it had submitted the promos to Clearcast – an ad clearing agency – and it had applied a post-9pm restriction to the clips, the ASA considered them to be not suitable for general viewing.
They were found to have breached rules around social responsibility and harm and offence, and were banned from being scheduled on video-on-demand services for general viewing.
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