London Underground bans ‘Bad Jews’ theatre posters

Posters advertising the West End play Bad Jews have been banned from the London Underground for being “likely to cause widespread or serious offence”.

The critically-acclaimed play, set in real time, tells the story of the grandchildren of a Holocaust survivor in the aftermath of his funeral. It re-opens at the Arts Theatre on 18 March.

Transport For London has opted to ban the posters, even though it ran an earlier promotional campaign for the production.

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Producer Danny Moar told the Evening Standard the move was a “form of censorship”. He added: “This is so weird and ironic when, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo events, everyone marched against censorship.”

The Advertising Standards Authroity approved the poster, but TfL has decided it is “likely to cause widespread or serious offence to members of the public on account of the nature of the product or service being advertised, the wording or design of the advertisement or by way of inference”.

A TfL spokesperson told the newspaper: “The advert ‘Bad Jews’ was previously displayed on our network as our advertising contractor approved it without consulting us. It was subsequently submitted for display again and has been rejected as it contravened our advertising policy, which states that adverts will not be approved if they may cause widespread or serious offence.”