FTC Issues Report on Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children

FTC ISSUES REPORT ON MARKETING VIOLENT ENTERTAINMENT TO CHILDREN
[SOURCE: Federal Trade Commission press release]
The Federal Trade Commission gave a mixed review of the movie, music, and video-game industries’ self-regulatory programs and their marketing of violent entertainment products to children in its latest report to Congress. This fifth follow-up report, the most comprehensive study since 2000, found that all three industries generally comply with their own voluntary standards regarding the display of ratings and labels. However, entertainment industries continue to market some R-rated movies, M-rated video games, and explicit-content recordings on television shows and Web sites with substantial teen audiences. In addition, the FTC found that while video game retailers have made significant progress in limiting sales of M-rated games to children, movie and music retailers have made only modest progress limiting sales. “Self-regulation, long a critical underpinning of U.S. advertising, is weakened if industry markets products in ways inconsistent with their ratings and parental advisories,” said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. “This latest FTC report shows improvement, but also indicates that the entertainment industry has more work to do.” The report includes results from the FTC’s latest mystery shop where unaccompanied children, ages 13-16, were sent into retailers to make a purchase. The undercover shop found significant improvement by video-game retailers, particularly in national retail chains, but little or no improvement by movie theaters, or DVD and music retailers.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/04/marketingviolence.htm

* See report online: http://www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/070412MarketingViolentEChildren.pdf

* FTC Violence Marketing Report Shows General Compliance
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6433488.html

* FTC: Violence still marketed to youths
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3ic6293edc770d6c2baa686c15f8395e2a

* FTC says content curbs fall short
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-ftc13apr13,1,4839601.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business