Olympus Has Fallen advert fined $1.9 million for ‘false alarm’

If you’re planning on blowing up the White House on film, best avoid realism…

The makers of a TV trailer for ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ are being fined a massive $1.9 million (£1.1 million) for misusing an official Government warning siren in the advert.

[Olympus Has Fallen: Want a reaction? Kill the dog]

The commercial in question (a version of which you can see below) repeated the ominous tones as images of the White House blowing up and the flashing words ‘This Is Not A Test’ played out on the screen.

The troublesome trailer for the Gerard Butler/Aaron Eckhart movie was aired across US TV networks a total 108 times, apparently creating confusing and prompting several complaints.

According to the Associated Press, the advert reportedly had some complainants “jumping out of bathtubs and racing towards the screen”. Maybe they just really liked Gerard Butler?

[Would these movie presidents get re-elected?]

The Federal Complaints Commission (the US version of our own OFCOM) said the three unnamed “media giants” being sued have 30 days to contest, or pay up.

‘Olympus Has Fallen’ was released in the US in March 2013. A recently announced sequel, ‘London Has Fallen’, is due to start production in May 2014.