The PG-13 Trap

This summer, a talking Austin Powers doll intended for adult-oriented outlets such as Virgin Megastore mistakenly ended up in an Atlanta-area Toys ‘R’ Us. Packaging carried the line, “Do I make you horny, baby?” That was an unpleasant surprise for a 10-year-old boy and his mother, who reportedly turned the toy over to police.

The pull-string doll was a tie-in to Austin Powers in Goldmember, a 2002 film rated PG-13 for its sexual innuendo, crude humor and language.

Ratings have skewed upwards in recent years, a deliberate choice by studios to attract the crowds that PG-13 flicks garner as compared to audiences for G or PG movies, some industry executives say. “Of the top 10 movies of 2003, six were PG-13,” says Patti Regan, owner of The Regan Group, a marketing firm in Los Angeles. “They’re reaching a much larger group of consumers [than PG movies].”

It’s not a new trend. In 1998, Burger King tied a kids’ meal promotion to the PG-13 animated film Small Soldiers. The meals offered toy soldiers — including one named “Kip Killigan” (pronounced “kill-again”). Later that year, when Springfield, OR, teenager Kip Kinkle confessed to killing his parents and two high school classmates, the Miami-based QSR pulled the toys.

“That was an all-time low. I was appalled by the whole thing,” says Nell Minnow, spokesperson for Common Sense Media, a Washington, DC-based advocacy group that tracks media for parents. “Those toys sent strong signals to kids that the toy and the movie was for kids. It was PG-13,” Minnow says. “What’s the point of having [promotional toys] and giving them to kids younger than 13?”

Burger King declined comment.

With an increasing number of PG-13 properties available for promo tie-ins, marketers, agencies and studios must walk the line between attracting a broader audience and maintaining appropriateness when attracting younger children. Marketers who skew younger with PG-13 tie-ins risk consumer backlash.

Still, it’s a risk that they’re increasingly willing to take. Regulators have focused on shielding kids from R-rated movies. That leaves PG-13 wide open — and even more attractive to marketers.

With regulators focused primarily on R-rated films, “what isn’t desirable [to promotional partners] are R-rated films,” says Amorette Jones, executive VP-theatrical marketing for Artisan Entertainment, Los Angeles. “R carries mature sexual content, drug use. PG-13 doesn’t have those sorts of issues and limitations. Typically the subject matter is more accessible.”

The Federal Trade Commission’s 2000 report Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children chastised marketers for extensively marketing violent R-rated films to children (PROMO, November 2000). The FTC questioned marketers’ ability to self-regulate in light of their routinely ignoring the ratings system.

In its June 2002 follow-up report, however, the FTC stated that progress had been made. Changes made by the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) include telling its members to request theaters not show trailers advertising films rated R for violence before G-rated films. (An Oct. 29 FTC workshop reviewed the progress of entertainment self-regulation.)

“The trailers are done to hook similar audiences. If they run an R film [trailer] during a G movie, that’s just dumb,” says Anne Groben, president of Anne Groben & Associates, a Dallas-based firm that brokers promotional deals with studios.

Steve Feldstein, senior VP, 20th Century Fox, Los Angeles, says the studios strictly obey the MPAA’s marketing guidelines and other recommendations.

With R-rated films off-limits, PG-13 becomes a gray area, increasingly popular with marketers as the concept of a “family film” evolves, say some film industry sources. “It used to be family films were exclusively G, but now they’re moving toward PG and even creeping into PG-13,” 20th Century Fox’s Feldstein says.

Films such as Independence Day, Men in Black and Spider-Man marked the first wave of movies that parents comfortably brought their elementary school children to fantasy-based, PG-13 pictures with stylized violence. “Families didn’t find [those films] too offensive,” an agency executive says.

But not everyone agrees on what constitute a family film. “PG-13 is not for the family. PG is family fare, as is G,” says Devery Holmes, president of Norm Marshall Associates, Sun Valley, CA. She carries that rationale into lining up promotions. “My philosophy is that I do not target anyone younger than a teen for a PG-13 movie. It’s a waste.”

Kellogg, which put Spider-Man characters on millions of packages across 11 brands last summer, taps several entertainment properties each year. With films, the Battle Creek, MI-based CPG does its homework before signing on. “We check ratings carefully, as well as movie content, before forming a partnership,” says Kellogg spokesperson Jenny Enochson. “We do not consider R ratings, but a PG rating would be just as attractive [as PG-13] if the content was a good fit.”

“With Spider-Man, the appeal was evident with the character’s long-standing popularity and its all-family appeal,” Enochson adds. “We look at the overall fit of a property with the Kellogg brand. We look at the consumer target and make sure there’s a fit there as well. We also look at popularity, timing and costs associated with the partnership or promotion.”

The rating system

Many execs says that parents care about the content that earns a film its rating, and each family must decide what its children can handle. But the definition of “appropriate” has changed in recent years. “All the cultural influences — TV, Internet, MTV — create age compression,” says Steve Ross, senior VP-worldwide entertainment at Mattel, Inc., El Segundo, CA. “[The popularity of] PG-13 is the manifestation of what parents see as acceptable.”

Since 1968, MPAA and the National Association of Theatre Owners have sponsored an independent Ratings Board to evaluate films’ appropriateness, allowing parents to make informed choices on what their children see. Studios voluntarily submit their films for ratings. MPAA’s ratings are based on theme, language, violence, nudity, sex and drug use (see sidebar).

But marketers are often attracted to a PG-13 rating, not put off by it. “Marketers see the merit in PG-13. They all realize that in this day and age that everyone is exposed to a lot, a lot younger,” says Lori Sale, executive VP-worldwide promotions, Miramax Films, West Hollywood, CA.

“In terms of promotional partners, PG-13 is considered the same as PG. There’s no risk that [the rating] will be offensive to companies” looking to tie in for promotions, Regan says. “PG used to cover up to teens. Now it’s for three- to eight-year-olds; it has a reputation of being too young for the older kids. PG has taken the place of G. PG-13 has taken the place of PG. And R is still R.”

Studios understand ratings’ relationship to the cool factor. “I was at a studio where a movie was pushed to be PG because G would be the kiss of death, too babyish. It was a strategic effort to raise the movie’s cool factor,” Mattel’s Ross says.

Notably, tweens and teens — an important market for studios and marketers — will be faithful to more grown-up films. “Tweens and teens will go back multiple times to the same movie if they like it. They’re a powerful, driving force,” Holmes says.

“More and more teenagers are going to films, and the film industry responds by making more films for teenagers,” says Aris Christofides, editor of Critics Inc. and Kids-in-Mind Web sites. “PG-13 becomes like a brand name. It implies there will be sex and violence.”

Cashing in on a buzz

Many marketing partners look for flash over substance. “Marketers want to latch onto a hot concept,” Groben says. “For example, Shrek was PG. If Shrek 2 came out with a PG-13 rating, I don’t think it would dissuade anyone because the first was so successful.”

In another example, sales of Mattel’s Barbie modeled after Elle Woods — the title character in Legally Blonde II (PG-13) — have been hot. “We are appealing to Elle fans, and targeting girls eight-plus,” Ross says. “Moms think it’s OK to take seven- , eight-year-old girls to this movie.”

As for the dolls, “some will play with Elle, others will put her on the shelf. She’s a positive image. She’s an intelligent, hardworking, pretty, motivated young woman who wants to change the world. And we love her,” Ross says.

Summer tie-in hit Hulk was rated PG-13. While Hollywood pitched the action flick to teens, marketers were selling everything from “Hulk Hands” toys to green chocolate syrup targeted to littler boys who likely wouldn’t see the movie. “There was a buzz about the film, and the littler kids know it,” Groben says. “Did every seven-year-old boy in the country buy green chocolate milk? Yes. Did they see the movie? No. Did the movie studio win because there were Hulk facings in the grocery store? Yes.”

PG-13 audiences offer opportunities to attract older consumers as well. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, due out in 2004, will appeal to 13- to 49-year-old females, Artisan’s Jones says. “As a result, we’re winding up with a number of partners, a big portfolio,” including Revlon, Virgin Mobile USA and Kay Jewelers.

In recent years, the potential partners pool has broadened beyond packaged goods, and PG-13 accommodates those marketers, Regan says. “It used to be packaged goods were the only [available partners]. Now, it’s expanded to technology, like AT&T and Cingular,” which have older target markets.

A marketer’s first consideration is still whether the film fits the target market. “Packaged goods companies are becoming more savvy when it comes to the rating system. They look at both film and rating for appropriateness and a match for their product,” says 20th Century Fox’s Feldstein. “We get our partners involved very early, at the script stage,” he says. “Marketers must make sure the [movie’s] marketing support will properly support their audience. They can see dailies, scripts, trailers. They can read the script, meet with the producer and the director and create a synergy that both are aligned.”

Studios can sign tie-in partners from 18-to-three months before a film’s premiere. Many deals are conducted before filming begins. However, films usually are rated only a few months before release — long after partners have put promotional wheels in motion. “The studios generally know what rating they’re going for. They know they’re not going to have an R rating for Cat in the Hat,” Groben says. “And the partner has the ability to go to the studio and read the script, so they know what they’re getting into.”

Besides, PG and G movies still garner audiences and partners. PG-rated Ice Age had tie-ins from Bloomingdale’s, Chevron and Coke. “Obviously, none of those partners were put off by the rating,” Feldstein says. “Ice Age was popular because it was a four-quadrant film — it appealed to moms, kids, single adults, single males.”

Feldstein says ratings have crept upward because the Review Board is increasingly sensitive. “Ice Age got PG for mild peril,” he says. “I worked at Disney for seven years. Those movies were all scary and they were G.”

And even G-rated movies can draw big. Disney/Pixar’s G-rated Finding Nemo won this year’s biggest audiences. “It was Pixar, and that makes a difference,” Groben says.

While Common Sense Media wants promotions that target children younger than the rating to stop, Minnow knows it’s an uphill battle. “It’s very tough to regulate. There are First Amendment issues that apply to commercial speech,” she says.

Buying the toy is different than seeing the movie. And it’s the parents’ responsibility to make choices, industry experts agree. “Wake up, parents. Those are your children,” Groben says. “If you don’t think the movie is appropriate, don’t take your kids. I don’t care how much they like the toy or how bad they want to go.”

Minnow concurs: “Of course it’s up to the parents. But parents can be just as confused by the conflicting information.”

Easy Access

Teenage shoppers are getting their hands on far too many mature and adult-themed movies and electronic games, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Using 13- to 16-year-olds accompanied by a parent, the Commission conducted a nationwide undercover study to determine the extent retailers prevent children from purchasing inappropriate entertainment products.

The study found that 69% of the young shoppers bought M-rated games, down from 78% in 2001; 83% purchased explicit-labeled recordings (90% in 2001) and 36% were able to purchase movie theater tickets for R-rated films (48% in 2001). Some 81% teens successfully purchased R-rated movies on DVD, the first time the commission surveyed DVD retailers.

Cashiers and clerks at movie theatres appeared to be more stringent in asking the child’s age, with 48% doing so this year compared to 39% in 2001. When buying music recordings, 13% asked the child’s age versus 10% in 2001, 24% versus 21% for electronic games and 19% for DVD movies.

Sixty-two percent of the movie theatres provided information about ratings or rating enforcement compared to 50%. (21% in 2003 versus 12% for venues that sell music recordings, 27% compared to 26% for electronic game stores and 26% for those selling DVD movies).

The goal of the study was to access the state of self-regulation in the entertainment industry when it comes to children’s access to inappropriate products.

Right Rating?

The Motion Picture Association of America ratings indicate:

General Audience (G)

All ages admitted. The film contains nothing that most parents will consider offensive for even their youngest children to see or hear.

Parental Guidance Suggested (PG)

Some material may not be suitable for children. May call for parental guidance. Film may contain some profanity, violence or brief nudity. No scenes of drug use or explicit sex.

Parents Strongly Cautioned (PG-13)

Rough or persistent violence, along with sexual nudity are generally absent. One use of a harsher sexually derived word may be present, along with some scenes of drug use.