The Federal Communications Commission proposed $2 million in penalty fines connected with TV commercials for the movie “Olympus Has Fallen” because of use of the distinctive emergency alert system audio tones. FilmDistrict released the R-rated thriller a year ago and the $70 million production grossed $99 million domestically.
Says an Adweek story by Katy Bachman: “Blatantly flaunting the signal, the ad even puts up on the screen in white letters on a black background, ‘This is not a test,’ furthering potential consumer confusion. Last November, the FCC slapped TBS with a $25,000 fine for using EAS sounds to promote Conan O’Brien’s show.”
The proposed $2 million in penalties amount to $1.12 million to Viacom, $530,000 to NBCUniversal and $280,000 to Disney’s ESPN cable networks for televising “Olympus Has Fallen” ads with the emergency tones.
It’s unusual for movie creative materials to get slapped with such penalties.
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