An advertising watchdog organization has asked the major studio trade group MPAA to check if ads for Paramount’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” and Warner Bros. “Get Smart” were placed in broadcast TV programs with inappropriately young audiences.
The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) made those referrals. CARU monitors marketing of all products and services for appropriateness as a unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus and on behalf of the advertising industry. Results of referrals are usually not announced.
CARU noted that broadcast advertising for “Indiana Jones” aired during children’s programming hours. The film is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “adventure violence and scary images.” Meanwhile, another PG-13 film “Get Smart” presents “some rude humor, action violence and language” not suitable for ages under 13.
Another PG-13 Paramount release, “Drillbit Taylor,” was also referred to MPAA, though that film made less of an impact at the box office.
Last month, “Iron Man” also got cited by CARU for inappropriate kids marketing noting that that its PG-13 has “some intense sequences of Sci-Fi action and violence and brief suggestive content” not appropriate for marketing to kids.
CARU monitors whether the media industry’s own self-regulation is actually enforcing its own standards. CARU’s Self-Regulatory Program for Children’s Advertising states that industry “should take care to assure that only age-appropriate videos, films and interactive software are advertised to children, and if an industry rating system applies to the product, the rating label is prominently displayed.”
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- ‘Broadcasting + Cable’ magazine: CARU Refers More Movie Ads to MPAA
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