MPAA Says It Won't Block Marketers' Movie Promo Plans
Claude Brodesser-Akner
Advertising Age
May 16, 2008
LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com)
-- The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is
barking up the wrong tree, according to the Motion
Picture Association of America. Earlier this week,
Boston-based CCFC launched a letter-writing campaign
urging the MPAA to stop allowing film companies'
marketing partners to promote PG-13 movies (and their
associated products) to children younger than 13.
But the MPAA said such marketing concerns don't fall
under its purview. It said it reviews marketing plans
for every PG-13 movie, but its focus is on the content
of the ads of its member companies, not whether the film
advertised is appropriate for a younger-than-13
audience. Nor does it supervise the ads of companies
that aren't members of the MPAA, such as licensed toys
and tie-ins, because they are frequently created by
promotional partners such as toy companies, fast-feeders
and beverage makers.
Who has the authority?
In an interview with Ad Age, MPAA President Bob Pisano
said the CCFC "is mischaracterizing what PG-13 means.
It's designed by parents, for parents. We don't tell
them their kid can't see something."
But if the MPAA believes the ads of its member companies
are worth regulating when it comes to children, then
don't the often more than $100 million marketing
partnership blitzes that accompany most blockbusters
merit some oversight too -- if not by the MPAA, then by
someone or something else?
Mr. Pisano doesn't dispute that point, but said such
oversight won't and shouldn't be coming from the MPAA.
"They [the CCFC] have an excessively regulatory view.
Sometimes the role of a parent is to simply say, 'No,'"
he said.
Skeptical of industry position
The CCFC, of course, sees things a little differently.
While that PG-13 rating is usually viewed as a stern
warning from the MPAA to parents that kids under age 13
may not be old enough to view the motion picture, to the
CCFC, it's merely a signal that Hollywood will be doing
its utmost to get those kids to go anyway.
The CCFC said it found ads for "Indiana Jones and the
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"-themed packaged foods like
Lunchables and Frosted Flakes on children's programmer
Nickelodeon as recently as May 10 and noted that Burger
King's current "Iron Man" kids-meal promotion is aimed
at children as young as 3.
In January, responding to a complaint by the CCFC, the
Federal Trade Commission largely dismissed that group's
arguments against the Hollywood organization, but did
urge the MPAA to develop an "explicit policy,
incorporating objective criteria" to "ensure that PG-13
movies are not marketed in a manner inconsistent with
their rating." But so far, ads promoting PG-13 movies
and their related merchandise continue to be a staple of
young children's TV programming.
"In their cynical attempt to wring every last dollar
from families, film companies are undermining parents
who are trying to shield their children from media
violence," said Susan Linn, the CCFC's director, in an
e-mailed statement.