LONDON, UK  [Monday Jul.12.2004]  /WMQT.com/ -- OutKast recently came under fire in the UK for a poster promoting the duo's album "Speakerboxx/The Love Below." The poster, which features both OutKast members, shows Andre 3000 holding a pink, smoking gun. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), an advertising watchdog organization, said the poster was "irresponsible" because it glorified gun use.

OutKast's UK record label BMG argued that Andre 3000 was "one of the artists least likely to glorify violence." The label also said it believed that "because the gun was pink, readers would see the image as ironic."

The ASA said that in this case "the color of the gun was irrelevant." The organization determined that the image was objectionable because "the gun was smoking," implying that it had just been fired. Although the ASA "considered that the advertisement was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," the watchdog group concluded that "the poster could be seen to glorify gun use" and declared it "irresponsible."

For more information, go to http://www.asa.org.uk/index.asp.

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