But the consequences of such transgressions appear negligible and include requiring the studio to pull the disputed ads. In the case of "Drillbit Taylor," the organization's inquiry was filed on April 17, a month after the ad ran and long after the film's TV campaign was mostly wrapped up. The MPAA says it disagreed with the group's findings and believed the "Drillbit Taylor" and "Iron Man" ads were appropriately placed.
"The enforcement is totally lacking," says Linn. "By the time it gets back to the MPAA, the damage is already done. They can't preempt anything."
The FTC, on the other hand, has a lot more regulatory clout. Even though the commission has been largely willing to let the market police itself under President George W. Bush, the FTC's division of advertising practices has indicated surprising unhappiness with Hollywood's recent conduct.
In a January letter responding to the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood's complaints about Paramount's expansive marketing effort of the PG-13 "Transformers" to children, FTC Associate Director Mary Engle suggested the studios were playing fast and loose with their own rules.
"Given [the PG-13 rating's] strong admonition to parents, the current policy of allowing marketing of PG-13 movies directly to a substantial number of children under the age of 13, without express guidelines or restrictions, could well be inconsistent with the rating," Engle wrote in a letter sent to Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and copied to the MPAA.
Engle also noted that the current marketing efforts were similar to earlier campaigns that the FTC considered problematic. "Since its first report [in 2000] on the marketing of violent entertainment to children, the Commission has expressed concern that target marketing of violent movies, including movies rated PG-13, directly to children constitutes an 'end run around the parental review role underlying the ratings.' "
The FTC's letter said that the film industry should "assess its current approach" and consider restricting advertising for PG-13 movies in media popular with younger children.
The MPAA has shown little public interest in taking up the FTC's suggestions.
In a May 16 letter copied to the FTC and the National Assn. of Theater Owners, the MPAA told the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to stop complaining about PG-13 movie advertising and cease its letter-writing effort.
"The PG-13 rating is not a restrictive rating and admission is permitted by -- and often may be appropriate for -- children younger than 13," MPAA general counsel Gregory Goeckner wrote, since the rating does not prohibit anyone, no matter how young, from buying a ticket. Advertising for PG-13 films, he said, "is reviewed for appropriateness for the audience expected to view the individual ad, taking into account both the content of the ad and the content of the motion picture."
But the MPAA says it does not review the flood of ads for movie-related toys, candy and fast food, which are clearly calculated to drive kiddie interest in attending the often violent films.
So, for the time being, expect rug rats to keep asking to see movies far more grown-up than "The Rugrats Movie."
--
john.horn@latimes.com
