The cover for the new James album has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, it has been confirmed.
The artwork for “Hey Ma” (pictured), the band’s first record in seven years, features a baby reaching for a gun.
The watchdog have decided the image is unsuitable and will not be featured on billboards to promote the LP.
Guitarist Larry Gott said the band had decided to go with the “strong image” despite its controversial tone.
He explained: “We talked at length about hitting a problem with the Advertising Standards Authority, but it’s such a strong image we decided it go with it anyway.
“The scale of the reaction has been a surprise, but we kind of expected there’d be some ripples”, said Gott.
“We were looking at lots of ideas with the designers and they came up with an image of a baby and a gun that related to a story in America of a ten month old child that had been issued a firearms certificate.
“Firearms are dangerous, they’re not to be taken likely, and we as a society are becoming over familiarised with the image of gun and gun culture”, he continued.
James release “Hey Ma” on April 7.
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