Thriller 'Assassination Nation' had its ads turned down by YouTube and Facebook for controversial imagery

Neon

"Assassination Nation."

• Ads for the new indie thriller "Assassination Nation" were rejected by YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for their imagery, which included guns and women undressing, Variety reported. 
• The film's production company, Neon, has also reportedly had trouble placing billboard ads for the movie.

The indie production company Neon has had a difficult time promoting its new thriller, "Assassination Nation."

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Variety reported that ads for "Assassination Nation" were rejected by YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram due to their perceived explicit content, which included imagery of guns and women undressing. 

The film, which opens in select theaters Friday, follows a group of teenage girls who seek out revenge (with guns) on an anonymous hacker who has doxxed people in their hometown. It stars Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, and Bella Thorne.

YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram reportedly declined to host ads and trailers for the film because they violated their terms of use. One trailer featured a woman pulling her shirt up to reveal a bra, and another showed the film's protagonists pointing guns at the camera (as in the above image).

Neon has also reportedly had trouble placing billboard ads for the movie, including one that contained the words "Ass Ass In Nation."

"Every single out of home vendor in Los Angeles passed," Christian Parkes, Neon's chief marketing officer, told Variety. "They thought it was a political ad calling for violence or that it was just plain offensive because it had the word 'ass' in it."

"We knew that this film was a stick of dynamite," Parkes added. "We didn't want to dress it up into something it isn't. This isn't a feel-good coming-of-age story. It's an honest meditation on where we are as a culture."

"Assassination Nation" opens in 1,403 theaters on Friday, and it's tracking to bring in around $4 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film has a 65% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Watch a trailer for the film below: