Ricky Gervais mocks Broadcasting Standards Authority for banning “highly offensive” Halloween advert

Ricky Gervais has mocked the Broadcasting Standards Authority for banning his “highly offensive” Halloween advert.

The comedian has recently been promoting his new brand of vodka, Dutch Barn, with a series of unconventional TV commercials, but his most recent one has been deemed too offensive to air.

“Happy Halloween for everyone at Dutch Barn Vodka!” Gervais says in the advert. “It’s a magical time of year where we try and scare kids with tales of ghosts and ghouls and vampires – all good fun.

“If you really want to scare children, tell them about priests and ’70s DJs and my uncle Sid – proper wrong’un. Murdered in jail, eventually, so… Dirty boy, Sid, you dirty boy,” he adds before bursting into laughter.

This was banned from TV with the broadcast standards authority saying “the subject matter and the whole idea would be highly offensive and cause strong and widespread offence under the code rules”
That told us https://t.co/Yra40GuGhz

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) October 16, 2024

The Office co-creator and star has since taken to social media to inform his followers that the advert never made it past the BSA.

“This was banned from TV with the broadcast standards authority saying ‘the subject matter and the whole idea would be highly offensive and cause strong and widespread offence under the code rules’ That told us,” he wrote, adding a crying laughing emoji.

Elsewhere, Gervais recently thanked “everyone who complained” about his Netflix stand-up special Armageddon for helping it win a Golden Globe and making it the “most watched special in the world”.

The comedian’s show was released on the streaming service on Christmas Day last year but immediately received criticism from a disability charity after using an ableist slur in the special.

A petition on Change.org also condemned Gervais’ use of the word “baldy” to describe terminally ill children. The comedian addressed the petition, saying the majority of people are “not really offended”.

Almost a year later, Gervais took to X to post a clip from the special where he jokes about immigration, along with the following: “Thanks to everyone who complained about this trailer and even signed a petition to get #Armageddon removed from Netflix. You helped it win a Golden Globe & become the most watched special in the world.”

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