FTC Issues Mixed Report Card on Marketing of Violent Entertainment
The FTC Thurs. issued a mixed report card to the videogame, movie and music industries, in its latest study on the marketing of violent entertainment to kids. All 3 industries “generally comply with their own voluntary standards regarding the display of ratings and labels” but they “continue to market” some M-rated video games, R-rated movies and explicit-content music recordings on TV shows and websites with “substantial teen audiences,” the FTC said.
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The highest marks were given to the game industry. The FTC’s study found the most “significant progress” in cracking down on kids’ access to mature content was made by retailers in that industry. The progress was especially strong among national retail chains that sell games, but there was “little or no improvement by movie theaters or DVD and music retailers,” the FTC said.
Only 42% of children included in a mystery shopper study of 13-16 year olds were able to buy an M-rated game -- an improvement over 69% in 2003, 78% in 2001 and 85% in 2000. The game industry was the only one in which improvements were made during each subsequent report.
In contrast, 39% of minors in the mystery shopper study were able to buy tickets to an R-rated movie this time, up from 36% in 2003 but down from 48% in 2001 and 46% in 2000. Although improvement was made in DVD sales to minors, the FTC said 71% of children were still able to buy R-rated movies on DVD. That was down from 81% in 2003. The music industry also fared better than 2003 -- but not by much, as 76% of the kids in the study were able to buy an explicit recording, down from 83% in 2003, 90% in 2001 and 85% in 2000.
“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 Chmn. Deborah Platt Majoras. The latest FTC report “shows improvement but also indicates that the entertainment industry has more work to do,” she said. The “increasing prevalence of marketing unrated DVDs containing content that might warrant an NC-17 rating, coupled with the poor performance of retailers in restricting the sales of such DVDs to unaccompanied children, is a particular cause for concern,” the FTC said.
Despite the favorable report for game retailers and the decrease in ads of M-rated games on TV shows popular with teens, the FTC found one remaining issue of concern in that industry: Advertising of M-rated games online. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) prohibits ads for such games on websites where the under-17 audience is 45% or more. But the FTC complained the ESRB is “not adequately enforcing even this limited standard.” The videogame industry “generally provides clear and prominent disclosure of rating information in advertising” but the FTC questioned why the ESRB “has not adopted” its previous recommendation that content descriptors for games be placed on the front of game packaging. The FTC found that although parents are familiar with the ESRB ratings, many of them still believe the system “can do more” to inform them about the level of violence in some games, it said.
The FTC recommended all 3 industries consider adopting new, or “tightening existing, target marketing standards.” It also suggested retailers “further implement and enforce point-of-sale policies restricting sales” of mature content. The report also again recommended that the videogame industry “place content descriptors on the front of product packaging and research why many parents believe that the system could do a better job of informing them about the level of violence in some games.” However, the FTC said it “continues to support industry self-regulation in this area given important First Amendment considerations.” It vowed to “continue to monitor this area, particularly as emerging technologies change the way entertainment products are marketed and sold.” The FTC will also “continue to work with industry and others to encourage efforts to provide parents with the information they need to decide which products are appropriate for their children,” it said.
The Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA) and Entertainment Merchants Assn. (EMA) boasted about the complements the FTC made about the game industry. ESA, however, didn’t mention the areas in which the FTC found the game industry still lacking. The ESA did, however, say it “strongly encourages retailers to continue enforcement of policies against selling M-rated games to minors” and ESA Senior Vp Carolyn Rauch again said her group will “work with any elected officials, as we have done across the country, in a collaborative way to maintain high levels of awareness and usage of not only the ESRB ratings, but also parental controls.” EMA Pres. Bo Andersen said his group “accepts the challenge to extend” the strong performance by game retailers to the retailing of DVDs.