Facebook Bans ‘GRIS’ Launch Trailer Ad For Being ‘Sexually Suggestive,’ Though It’s Not

Back in late December, I reviewed GRIS, an amazing, artistic platformer from Developer Digital, one that's well worth checking out if you own a Nintendo Switch. However, an interesting snag came up when the publisher attempted to advertise the game on Facebook, as its launch trailer post got banned for being "sexually suggestive."

Devolver Digital talked about the ban on Twitter recently, noting how "this year is going great so far" sarcastically based on the ban. You can see the tweet, and the image in question, below.

Facebook rejected a GRIS launch trailer ad for this ‘sexually suggestive’ scene so this year is going great so far. pic.twitter.com/frVaYOXIHe

— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) January 7, 2019

As you can see, the image doesn't really appear to be sexual at all; and that's a point one of the Devolver spokespeople was trying to make while speaking with Kotaku, saying "this is stupid" when it came to the decision.

"First of all, she's a statue and second, absolutely no nudity is shown in that photo, nor is this what any reasonable person would consider 'sexualized content'," they explained.

Since that time, they noted that they went back to Facebook in an attempt to get the ad restored, but to no avail. "We appealed and they said the appeal was rejected based on the grounds that Facebook does not allow nudity."

Facebook has been somewhat strict with posts as of late, particularly those that refer to nudity, violence or other controversial subjects. But, again, taking a good look at the photo, it's hard to see where nudity is implied.

Several fans also agree that the decision by the social site was "stupid," as they don't see where the uproar lies either.

And thus we learned someone at Facebook is really into bird shadows enveloping giant women statues holding tiny feminine characters in front of a full moon

— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) January 7, 2019

I mean... that’s a choice I guess.

— Amanda Farough (@AmandaFarough) January 7, 2019

Ouch! My delicate sensibilities

— New Year, New Dadcade (@thedadcade) January 7, 2019

Stop being so sexy Devolver and you won't have that issue.

— Craig Skistimas (@CraigSkitz) January 7, 2019

pic.twitter.com/zZuUutgPYn

— Connor Green (@CnnorG) January 8, 2019

There's no word yet on if Devolver Digital will continue to try to advertise on Facebook, but it's clear that the social site may want to relax its rules maybe a little. This appears to be over-reaction over nothing.

GRIS is available now for Nintendo Switch. Want to talk more about this amazing platformer? Reach out to me on Twitter at @TheDCD!