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January 17, 2008
Contact: Josh Golin
(617.278.4172;
jgolin@jbcc.harvard.edu)
For Immediate Release
Coalition to MPAA: Stop
Marketing PG-13 Films to Young Children
Advocates for Children Urge
MPAA to Comply with Recent
FTC Recommendation for a
PG-13 Marketing Policy
A coalition of twenty one
advocacy groups is demanding that the Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA) comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s
recent recommendation for explicit restrictions on the marketing
of PG-13 films to young children. In a letter sent today to
MPAA CEO Dan Glickman, the groups urged the MPAA to develop a
policy that would restrict the advertising of PG-13 films on
children’s television; prohibit restaurant toy giveaways or
other food promotions aimed at young children for PG-13 movies;
and insure that any toys released in conjunction with a film
carry an age recommendation consistent with the film’s rating.
The letter was written and
organized by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
(CCFC). This past summer, CCFC filed a complaint with the
Federal Trade Commission that Transformers – rated PG-13
for “intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual
humor, and language – was being marketed extensively to
preschool children through television advertising, food
promotions and licensed toys. Last week, the FTC acted on
CCFC’s complaint by urging the MPAA to adopt guidelines for the
marketing of PG-13 movies.
“Transformers is just
one of a string of violent, PG-13 movies marketed to
preschoolers,” said CCFC’s co-founder and director, Dr. Susan
Linn. “For too long, the film industry has undermined its own
rating system by bypassing parents to target young children
directly with marketing for films that the industry itself has
determined warrant parental caution.”
Between May 2006 and June
2007, the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) publicly
cited seven instances of PG-13 movies being advertised during
children’s television programming. In 2007, Spiderman 3,
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and The
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer featured licensed
toys for children as young as four. In 2005, the PG-13
blockbuster Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith featured toys
for young children as well as a Burger King toy giveaway and
several other food promotions that clearly appealed to preschool
children, despite George Lucas’ public statements that the
film’s violence and dark themes were inappropriate for children
under six.
Tim Winter, President of the
Parents Television Council said the PTC signed the letter to
“send a message to the motion picture industry. If the MPAA
wants their ratings to mean anything, they must stop the
hypocrisy of marketing potentially harmful violent and sexual
themes to children while claiming to protect children with
mature ratings.”
“It is distressing that the
industry response to parental concerns about media content is
almost always to place the full burden on parents,” said Cheryl
Leanza of Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ,
Inc., a signatory to the letter. “These industry members
essentially offer parents a Hobson’s choice: either expose your
children to content that you find unacceptable, or withdraw your
children from popular culture. This serves no one. We all
benefit with more mutual communication and understanding, not
less.”
Added Dr. Linn, “Given the
film industry’s consistent failure to respect parents as
gatekeepers, it is disappointing that the FTC chose to rely on
self-regulation rather than taking action. We urge the MPAA to
use this reprieve to institute a policy insuring that PG-13
movies are marketed in a manner consistent with their rating.”
The complete text of
the letter to the MPAA can be found at
http://commercialfreechildhood.org/mpaaletter.pdf.
The FTC's recommendation can
be found at
http://commercialfreechildhood.org/ftcrecommendation.pdf
CCFC's original letter to the
FTC can be found at
http://commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/transformersftcletter.pdf
The letter’s signatories are:
Action Coalition for Media
Education
Alliance for Childhood
Benton Foundation
Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood
Center for a New
American Dream
Center for SCREEN-TIME
Awareness
Commercial Alert
Common Sense Media
Concerned Educators
Allied for a Safe Environment (CEASE)
Dads and Daughters
Hardy Girls Healthy
Women
Industry Ears
Kids Can Make a
Difference
The Motherhood Project
National Institute for
Media and the Family
Obligation, Inc.
Office of Communication
of the United Church of Christ, Inc.
The Office of Children, Youth
and Family Advocacy, Women's Division, United Methodist Church
Parents for Ethical
Marketing
Parents Television
Council
Teachers Resisting Unhealthy
Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE)
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