Feds to report on movie advertising practices

Almost seven years ago the Federal Trade Commission put out a report on how movies and other forms of entertainment were marketed to children. It came about as the result of the tragedy at Columbine and everyone’s worrying that pop culture had led the two criminals down a wayward path.

That report is about to be updated by the FTC, which will issue a follow-up soon. At the time of the initial report the studios agreed to police themselves but this time they might not be as lucky. The film world has changed significantly since then, with a sharp increase in recent years in movies that portray little else than torture, abduction and other violent behavior.

The report also comes just weeks after the controversial Captivity ads were put up and abruptly taken down. Those billboard ads showed a progression of increased physical brutality and aroused the passions of people who felt (rightly, I might add) that such images were inappropriate for general advertising.

With that in mind the movie industry may not be able to make the case that it can decide what’s appropriate all by itself, thank you very much. While the major studios submit their ads for approval by the MPAA, smaller studios that don’t belong to the MPAA are not required to. Most do but they are not subject to the same requirements to keep adult-themed ads away from media for which 35 percent of the audience is under 17.

That loophole – that smaller nonmember studios don’t have to abide by the MPAA’s guidelines – will likely be a centerpiece of discussion when the updated report is issued.

Oh, and to Fox Atomic’s John Hegeman, who said a Hills Have Eyes 2 ad couldn’t be updated after it finally recieved a rating: SpotRunner.