Disturbed ad pulled after TV murder

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Immortalized promo withdrawn to avoid offence after 2 journalists are shot dead on live TV

A video ad for Disturbed’s comeback album Immortalized has been pulled in the wake of an on-air double murder.

TV journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward were shot dead during a live broadcast in Virginia yesterday. The suspect, a former colleague, later shot himself as well.

Now Disturbed’s label Warner Bros have removed an online promo that includes a scene from the band’s The Vengeful One video, in which a monster shoots people at a TV station.

The ads, served via an automated process, were placed by marketing firm Gupta Media, who said the risk of offence was minimised because of the way viewers were chosen.

Owner Gogi Gupta told USA Today: “The video was served via retargeting, matched to previous web-browsing behaviour. So only a visitor who’d interacted with Disturbed websites would be eligible to see it.”

Immortalized was released on August 14.

Martin Kielty
Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.