Unethical Marketing

There have been many movies coming out lately with comic book themes like Spiderman, Transformers, etc. that are being marketed to little kids, but the movies themselves are PG-13. My nephew is 6 years old and LOVES Spiderman but has never seen any of the movies. He is constantly being targeted with Spiderman marketing, toys, costumes, games, books, (yes he wears Spiderman pajamas) and wants to see the movies, but my sister knows that they are too violent for him.

It is very unethical for companies to market these movies to such a young audience. Here is an excerpt from the article from the link:


"Between May 2006 and June 2007, the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) publicly cited seven instances of PG-13 movies being advertised during children’s television programming. In 2007, Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer featured licensed toys for children as young as four.

In 2005, the PG-13 blockbuster Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith featured toys for young children as well as a Burger King toy giveaway and several other food promotions that clearly appealed to preschool children, despite George Lucas’ public statements that the film’s violence and dark themes were inappropriate for children under six."