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A promotional poster for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has caused uproar online due to its depiction of an exploding skyscraper alongside its 11th September release date.
Paramount Pictures revealed the image via its Australian Twitter and Facebook accounts, but was forced to withdraw it after coming under fierce criticism.
Many incensed Facebook and Twitter users pointed out that the poster could be construed as a reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
“How does this make it past marketing? Ninja turtles poster invokes 9/11 attack,” wrote one fan on Twitter.
“@ParamountAU that appears to be in bad taste,” another Tweeted.
Paramount has since issued a statement apologising for the marketing blunder and acknowledging that combining the image and the date was “a mistake”.
The studio said: “We are deeply sorry to have used that artwork for the marketing materials promoting the September 11 opening in Australia. Combining that image and date was a mistake. We intended no offense and have taken immediate action to discontinue its use.”
Produced by Michael Bay, the Ninja Turtles reboot stars Megan Fox as April O’Neil and William Fichtner as the villainous Shredder.
The eponymous reptile vigilantes and their rat sansei will be brought to life by computer graphics, with Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub spearheading the movie’s voice cast.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be released in UK cinemas on 17th October.