21 Oct Advertising of violent and horror movies in the spotlight
Horror movies in the spotlight
The Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) will urge the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), in its review of its code of ethics, to tighten rules around the content of public advertising and trailers on television used to promote violent and horror movies.
An ACCM spokesperson says the organisation will be recommending a tightening of paragraph 2.3 of the code, which she says “appears to condone the use of violent images to advertise violent films”.
Paragraph 2.3 of the code says advertising or marketing communication shall not present or portray violence unless it is justifiable in the context of the product or service being advertised.
The spokesperson says the potentially harmful advertising does not only appear on television in prime time but also on highly-prominent billboards, bus stops, the back of buses and AFL on-field advertising.
“There also needs to be a new provision to prevent the use of scary images to promote horror films in public spaces where children have every right to be,” the spokesperson says.
Violent and horror movies need regulation
University of South Australia research fellow Dr Lesley-Anne Ey says posters such as those promoting horror film It:Chapter Two would likely give children nightmares.
“When children are exposed to an image that does not fit within their schemes of what they know, they tend to look more closely to try to make sense of the image. They then absorb more detail and the image becomes entrenched in their minds,” Dr Ey says.
The AANA says; “the objectives of the AANA Code of Ethics are to set standards ensure that advertisements and other forms of marketing communications are legal, decent, honest and truthful and that they have been prepared with a sense of obligation to the consumer and society and a sense of obligation to the consumer and society and a sense of fairness and responsibility to competitors.”.
A review is done every seven years and consultation is open to interested parents and educators when the Review opens but in the meantime you can see the last guidelines and ethics about this topic here.
