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Sixteen months ago, the children’s advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood filed a complaint with the FTC  about the marketing of violent PG-13 films to children by the Motion Picture Association of America. In response, the MPAA was asked to implement a marketing plan that mirrors the PG-13 rating with the warning: “Parents Strongly Cautioned:  Some Material May be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.” However, the MPAA has yet to respond, and since March nearly 5,000 advertisements for five violent PG-13 films and their merchandise have aired on children’s TV networks. 

Now, the CCFC has presented the FTC with a petition signed by more than 3,000 parents that states: “Marketing PG-13 films to young children sends a confusing message to parents and increases the likelihood that kids will be exposed to media content that even the film industry believes may be inappropriate for them.”

The CCFS’s Diane Levin stated:

“Families are undermined when violent films are advertised during children’s television programs—especially through toy promotions. It makes it harder for parents to deny requests to see the film when children are subjected to a steady stream of ads telling them that that products linked to the film are especially for them.”

See the CCFC's web site for more information on the petition.