Venue's logo 'promotes gun crime'

A comedy club has been banned from advertising on Virgin Trains for fear it is promoting gun crime.

Adverts for The Stand venues in Glasgow and Edinburgh have been rejected by Virgin’s in-train magazine Hotline because their logo features an image of a child with a gun to his head.

Now club owner Tommy Sheppard has appealed to Virgin chief Richard Branson to allow the campaign.

He said the ban by ‘some overzealous self-appointed arbiter of taste and decency… is as ridiculous as it is insulting’.

He added ‘It is beyond rational belief that anyone could seriously consider this piece of artwork would have the effect of encouraging gun crime amongst or against children.

‘The logo works as a metaphor for stand-up comedy. The naïve, androgynous figure represents someone attempting to perform for the first time, and caught in the dichotomy between the desire to speak through the microphone, and the nervousness and fear that the exercise involves.

‘Over the years we have advertised extensively without any problem, including in a range of publications produced by other transport operators such as First Scotrail and Citylink. 

‘We are extremely dismayed and concerned at the suggestion that our club in some way condones or encourages gun crime. Nothing could be further from the truth.’

However, a spokesman for Virgin Trains said: ‘Hotline is a magazine that is available to all passengers and we are greatly concerned about carrying anything that portrays or illustrates knife or gun crime, and for that reason the advert was deemed unsuitable.

‘We are more than happy to discuss alternative adverts with the Stand Comedy Club.’

Published: 20 Nov 2008