Whole Kids Project

Please Support Parents for Ethical Marketing

The Parents for Ethical Marketing has just kicked-off a fund raising campaign.  Lisa is a tireless and courageous advocate for our children- please support her efforts.

Why Parents for Ethical Marketing:

Consumer marketing is everywhere. On television. In magazines and newspapers. On the Internet and on school buses. On billboards and on bus shelters. On milk cartons and cereal boxes.

In our public schools.

And it's almost impossible to buy anything for a child without a “brand identity.” Barbie, for example, can be found on everything from band-aids to board games to backpacks.

As parents, we know there's a problem. We argue with our kids about what to buy, what to wear, what to watch and what to play. We know what is best for our kids, yet sometimes we give in when we know we shouldn't.

Of course, parents are ultimately responsible for raising healthy children. But corporate marketers would have us believe that combating their damaging commercial messages is exclusively our problem

Parents for Ethical Marketing thinks it’s about time that corporations take some of the responsibility.

Through parental awareness, public pressure, and legislative initiatives, Parents for Ethical Marketing encourages corporations to adopt responsible marketing standards and practices that sustain the health of children and families.

Please click here to make a donation!

Action Alert: Hounddog Movie Depicts Child Rape

I received this alert from the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families and want to make sure our readers are aware of this movie.  Please take a few moments and follow the Coalition's action steps:

Hounddog, a movie to soon be released in theaters nationwide on September 19, has caught the attention of pro-family groups across the country.

The new movie features child actress Dakota Fanning, who portrays a nine-year-old girl raped by a man in his late teens after he tricks her into dancing naked for Elvis Presley concert tickets. Is this really true?

Deborah Kampmeier, writer and director of Hounddog, wrote in the film's press kit, "… she [Fanning's character] is simply and innocently experiencing and relishing the aliveness of her being, the life force pulsing through her body, celebrating the power and creative force of her sexuality that is her birthright."

Yes, it’s true! And the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families is committed to raising awareness among moviegoers and taking action to stop the wide distribution of this movie.

“While I have not personally viewed Hounddog, reliable news sources have indicated the movie is inappropriate and portrays graphic sexual scenes between a young child and older teen,” said Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition. “Once again, Hollywood is irresponsibly promoting sexual encounters with minors that not only influences our culture but actually normalizes this egregious behavior in our society.”

Donna Miller, a Concerned Women of America (CWA) Prayer/Action Chapter Leader, agrees that the upcoming release of Hounddog is mainstreaming child pornography in our culture.

Working with CWA, the National Coalition is calling all citizens to:

• Contact the United States Attorney General's office and ask them to review this film to determine whether or not federal child exploitation laws have been violated. Tell them you have grave concerns that this film, with its visual representation of a child engaging in sexually suggestive behaviors and being sexually assaulted, opens the door for child pornography to be mainstreamed into the entertainment industry. Write to or call:

Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey
U. S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Office of the Attorney General: (202) 353-1555

• Call your local theater and respectfully ask them to not show the film.
• Visit the National Coalition website for updates on this and other critical matters concerning our children and families.
• Forward this information to friends and family to help them make informed decisions about their entertainment choices.

Action Alert: Tell BusRadio to Stop Promoting 90210 to 6 Year-olds

I just received this alert from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:

BusRadio, which hopes to "take targeted student marketing to the next level" by forcing children to listen to its commercialized radio broadcasts on school buses, has sunk to a new low. The company is advertising the highly sexualized new television show 90210 on BusRadio.com, its website for children as young as six.  

Tell Bus Radio: Stop promoting 90210 to six-year-olds. 

BusRadio.com - the company's website for students that  is promoted throughout BusRadio's broadcasts on elementary, middle, and high buses - is urging children to tune in to tonight's premiere of 90210, a show that the CW Network calls a "sexier" and "more provocative" update on the popular series from the nineties. [1]  A trailer for the show on the BusRadio website teases several sex scenes, while a banner ad featuring the stars of the show in sexualized poses links to the show's website.[2] The show is exploiting preteens "currently smitten with Hannah Montana and the Jonas Bros" through merchandise such as backpacks, school supplies, and clothing. [3] Media reports also suggest the show will feature a significant amount of product placement.[4] 

BusRadio sells itself to school districts as an age-appropriate alternative to FM radio, but the company's definition of "age-appropriate" frequently differs from that of parents. Seminole County, Florida recently terminated their relationship with BusRadio when the company refused to stop playing songs from albums with parental warnings for explicit lyrics and content. Advertisers on BusRadio's elementary school broadcasts include the highly sexualized Bratz brand. Another elementary school advertiser, Answers.com, tells students to do their homework by looking up their answers on the Internet and mocks a student for carrying around books. BusRadio broadcasts encourage young students to visit its BusRadio.com website where inappropriate media, including Mature-rated video games and now 90120, are promoted. 

We believe no child should be held captive by BusRadio and we will continue to organize parents and educators around the country to keep advertising off of school buses. But we also think it is important to protect those students who are unfortunate enough to ride buses with BusRadio from this kind of sexualized advertising.  

Please visit http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/6914/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25409 to tell BusRadio to stop advertising 90210 to young children.

 

Thanks,

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
www.commercialfreechildhood.org

 

Support CCFC.  We rely on our members because we will not compromise our commitment to children by accepting corporate funding. Between now and September 5, donate $75 or more and receive a signed copy of Diane Levin's and Jean Kilbourne's So Sexy, So Soon.  To make a tax-free contribution, please visit https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/6725/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=3839

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[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU7EjzF1RJk.

[2] http://www.busradio.com/movies.

[3] http://commercialfreechildhood.org/news/2008/08/90210.htm.

[4] http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/08/16/freetime/doc48a0c098adc53549467084.txt.

Action Alert: Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act

I received this alert from NationalCoalition.org:

The verdict has been handed down—CBS will face no penalty after MTV thumbed its nose at parents during the 2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently threw out a $550,000 fine the Federal Communications Commission levied against CBS after Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” exposed her breast to over 90 million halftime viewers—many of whom were children.

“The last thing a parent expects to see when they sit down with their family to watch the Super Bowl is a strip tease,” said Rick Schatz, president and CEO of the National Coalition. “The Super Bowl has long been a family event that is enjoyed by viewers of all ages. To feature a halftime show that includes nudity and lewd behavior is unconscionable.”

While the half a million complaints received by the FCC after the Super Bowl demonstrated viewers’ disgust, the Third Circuit opened the door to future indecent programming.

“Unfortunately, this ruling will likely set a precedent that will negatively affect the quality of future entertainment on broadcast television,” added Schatz. “Parents must be more vigilant than ever in monitoring the shows viewed in their household.”

Although this ruling is a disappointment, a legislative response is in motion. Senator Jay Rockefeller has introduced the Protecting Children from Indecent Programming Act (Senate Bill 1780), which would allow single words or images that are considered to be indecent, obscene, or profane to draw civil penalties.

To help pass this legislation, we ask you to do three things:

1. Contact Senator Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, and ask him to bring this legislation to the floor for a vote.

2. Contact Senator Jay Rockefeller, thank him for introducing the bill, and ask him to help move the bill forward.

3. Contact your two U.S. Senators and ask them to vote “YES” on Senate Bill 1780.

We thank you in advance for helping to protect the eyes of our children. There is still much to be done…but together we will make our voice heard!

Please take a few moments to contact Senators Reid and Rockefeller through the links above. You can find your Senators' email addresses here.

Action Alert: A Free and Safe Wireless Internet Service

Last week I told you about the FCC's plans to auction off unused airwaves to create a free, nationwide wireless Internet service.  The auction has one stipulation: the winning company must provide filters to make the service porn-free.

The ACLU and "free-speech" activists want the FCC to remove the porn-free requirement claiming the porn-ban condition constitutes censorship.

The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families has established an online petition so that we can let the FCC know that Americans want the family-friendly requirement maintained.

Please take a moment to add your signature to this petition.

FCC Commissioner Questions Marketing Aimed at Kids

Lisa from the Parents for Ethical Marketing has a thoughtful post on a recent speech delivered by FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.  Here is an excerpt from his speech:

In case you don’t know it already, many parents are feeling inundated by an array of media that are flooding their children’s minds with inappropriate material. Too many parents feel like they are losing control, and they’re frustrated by a seemingly relentless march of coarse material that is too violent, too sexual, too commercial or too unhealthy for their children. Messages or images their children are not ready to hear pop up in too many places for parents to easily control, from insensitively timed commercials during otherwise family-friendly programming to Internet ads and spam coming over the computer.

There is growing concern about unhealthful messages and images as well. . . . Many studies show the damaging effects of advertising on children’s food choices. Some of your companies have taken important steps, but there is far more to be done.

For parents, it’s like a game of whack-a-mole, with an increasing number of moles jumping up faster and faster. Too many parents suffer from a sense of exhaustion or futility. I suspect many of you share these concerns on a personal level, but many of you also work for powerful media companies that are helping this mole population to proliferate. . . .

I believe I speak for millions of parents when I say we’re overwhelmed, fed up and looking for help from the government and the industry alike. 

Read Lisa's entire post here.

Parents for Ethical Marketing plans to contact Commissioner Adelstein's office to find out how PEM members can participate in the FCC's rule-making process.

Please visit PEM and sign up for their action alerts and news bulletins. This is a great way for you to get involved and influence children's programming and advertising.

Action Alert: Stop the Marketing of Violent PG-13 Movies to Preschoolers

From the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:

Burger King Iron Man toy giveaways for preschoolers.

Indiana Jones Lunchables.

Incredible Hulk toys for children as young as three.

The Dark Knight Cheerios.

This summer’s violent PG-13 blockbusters are being marketed to young children.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) could stop this onslaught but they won’t. The Federal Trade Commission has urged the MPAA to develop an “explicit policy, incorporating objective criteria” to “ensure that PG-13 movies are not marketed in a manner inconsistent with their rating,” but the MPAA has refused.

Please take a moment to visit this link to tell the MPAA to stop the marketing of violent PG-13 films to young children.

Action Alert: Sex and the City Film is Marketed to Underage Teens

Via the Wall St. Journal:

Such intense interest among underage fashionistas poses a knotty problem for New Line. The studios have long had to maneuver carefully when it comes to R-rated movies, which require adult accompaniment for moviegoers under 17, though the rule isn't always enforced. Usually, the concern is about kids trying to sneak into movies drenched with sex, like "American Pie," or violence, as in "The Matrix."

But the issue grew more serious after a Federal Trade Commission report in 2000 accused Hollywood studios of inappropriately marketing adult content to children. The studios vowed to clean up their act after being forced to defend incidents in which they test-marketed R-rated films to 9-year-olds and distributed promotional materials for the films to youth groups. At that time, Time Warner's Warner Bros., which absorbed New Line this year, pledged not to show ads for R-rated movies during any programming where about 35% of the audience was under 17 years old.

Today, New Line says that it's not marketing "Sex and the City" to teens and that advance research shows that less than 5% of the interested audience is under 17. The studio did, however, purchase ad time for "Sex and the City" on TV programs that turned out to have substantial teen audiences, including some in which more than 35% of the viewers are 17 or under, according to Nielsen Co.

For example, numerous ads for the movie have run during CW's "Gossip Girl," which had an under-18 audience of about 23% this spring, and MTV's "My Super Sweet 16," with about 40%. According to TNS Media Intelligence, 18 "Sex and the City" commercials have run during MTV's series "A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila" -- where about 40% of the audience is under 18 -- in recent weeks. Studios often argue that buying time on such programs is necessary in order to reach the 18 to 24-year-old demographic.

Dodging such issues is one reason that many summer movies set out to win a PG-13 rating, giving them a shot at a wider audience. Other films carrying R ratings this summer include the comedies "Tropic Thunder" and "The Pineapple Express," the Angelina Jolie action movie "Wanted" and the M. Night Shyamalan thriller "The Happening."

The teen interest in "Sex and the City " is somewhat surprising because the $60 million film focuses on the "Sex" foursome's move into their 40s -- and in one case 50s -- facing problems with marriage, infidelity and starting a family. According to a former HBO executive, in its early stages of development, the film was jokingly referred to as "Menopause in the City."

The article continues:

"Sixteen is the new 20," adds Shelley Zalis, CEO of OTX, a consumer research firm that tracks film demographics. "Sixteen-year-olds want to see films with more adult subject matter. There are a whole new bunch of movies that really hit a teen audience that might not be expected to."

"Sex and the City" is also getting buzz from publicity that falls outside the marketing campaign. On Condé Nast's teen-oriented ym.com Thursday, the film was featured prominently, and a discussion thread about summer movies was spiked with comments about the film, including one that read: "I wanna see the Sex and the City movie," and another that read: "I was never HUGE on the show because I was still younger when it was on ... but I watch it pretty often now on repeats."

Melissa Benjamin, a 16-year-old from Chappaqua, N.Y., says that her three best friends got advance tickets to see the movie Friday because they watched the show for hours in middle school. "We'd come home at 3:30 p.m. and watch until 9 o'clock on HBO on Demand," she says. "We'd like to say which character we all thought we were most like. Secretly," she confides, "I really relate to Carrie, but my other friend wanted to be Carrie."

We've seen this time and time again with adult-themed shows and products being marketed on shows (and websites) that are primarily targeted at children.

Help put a stop to these irresponsible marketing tactics:

• Contact the Federal Trade Commission (via the web or by calling  1-877-382-4357) and ask them to make New Line Cinema live up to their vows.
• Contact YM.com and ask them to stop advertising R-rated movies and other products intended for adults.
• Contact New Line Cinema and ask them to be more responsible in their marketing practices and stop targeting children with R-rated movies and TV show advertisements.

Hat tip: Dads and Daughters

Action Alert: Video Game Ratings Enforcement Act

Via the Parent's Television Council:

STOP THE SALE OF ADULT VIDEO GAMES TO CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENTAL APPROVAL

Utah Congressman Jim Matheson and Nebraska Congressman Lee Terry recently introduced the bipartisan Video Game Ratings Enforcement Act in the House of Representatives. This bill will require retailers to check identification in order to keep adult-rated video games from being sold to children.

The proposed legislation codifies the video game industry’s own voluntary policies and will ensure better enforcement by requiring all retailers to check IDs from any child trying to buy or rent Mature (M)-rated or Adult-Only (AO) rated games. It does not limit adults’ access to any games they want to buy for themselves or for their children – it merely helps ensure that children can only access age appropriate video games if they are accompanied by an adult.

Please take action today by asking your representatives to support this bill.

Two key points here: this adds some teeth to the policies that the video game industry has already adopted and the proposed law does not seek to ban or restrict adults from purchasing any games.

This law would help parents who wish to limit their kid's access to certain games by making retailers accountable.

Please click here to send your Representative a message urging support of this bill.

Action Alert: Keep Disguised Ads Out of Children's Books

From Commercial Alert.org:

Harper Collins Children’s Books recently announced plans to publish a new series of books targeted at 8- to 12-year-olds featuring a character called "Mackenzie Blue." Although touted by the publisher for teaching kids about protecting the environment and promoting global understanding, the Mackenzie Blue series actually aims to be a vehicle for delivering commercial messages, through product-placement hidden advertisements, product tie-ins, and affiliated multi-media corporate sponsorships. The author of the series, Tina Wells, is chief executive of Buzz Marketing Group, which specializes in marketing to children and adolescents.

Book publishers should not be exploiting children for commercial gain. Books should educate and entertain children — not encourage them to buy a particular brand of shoe or soft drink.

Tell Susan Katz, publisher of Harper Collins Children's Books, not to publish "Mackenzie Blue" unless all product placements and tie-ins with external advertisers are removed.

Please follow this link to the Commercial Alert website and send Harper Collins a message letting them know that you oppose this commercial exploitation of our children.