Mareel apology after trailer with swearing shown to children before U-rated nature film

SHETLAND Arts has apologised after a trailer featuring repeated swearing was shown before a U-rated nature film at Mareel at which children were present.

A spokesperson said an age 15-rated version of the trailer for the new Tom Cruise film Digger was shown in screen one instead of a U-rated one by mistake, and added that it was an “honest mix-up”.

The trailer included the ‘F word’ five times, and also saw a male character make reference to the size of his genitalia, using the ‘D word’.

The trailer was shown before a screening of the nature documentary North Sea: Nature Untamed on Thursday afternoon.

It was a ‘silver’ screening, which is designed to cater for folk over 60 and comes with free tea/coffee and biscuits, but anyone was welcome to attend – with some children among the audience with their families.

A Shetland Arts spokesperson told Shetland News that staff were alerted to the issue as it happened and looked into what had gone wrong.

“We are reviewing our procedures to understand how this happened and any changes we need to make to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” they said adding that the organisation was sorry for any upset caused.