The entertainment and game industries are lambasted by US authorities for 'pervasive and aggressive' marketing to children.
Hollywood aggressively markets violent movies, music and electronic games to children even when they have been labeled as appropriate only for adults, according to a United States federal report issued on Monday.
The US Federal Trade Commission report -- ordered by President Bill Clinton after last year's deadly shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado -- found a "pervasive and aggressive" marketing of violent movies, music and electronic games to youngsters.
In the Columbine shooting last April, two students opened fire on their schoolmates, killing a teacher and 12 students before taking their own lives.
The Columbine killings put the spotlight on a spate of deadly killings in schools and raised questions over whether violent films, video games and music were contributing to this increase in violence.
The report charged: "The practice of pervasive and aggressive marketing of violent movies, music and electronic games to children undermines the credibility of the industries' ratings and labels," said the report.
"Such marketing frustrates parents' attempts to make informed decisions about their children's exposure to violent content," it added.
Citing examples, the FTC report found that PG-13 movies, warning parents that some material might be unsuitable for children under 13, were regularly marketed to children 11 years old and younger.
The Motion Picture Association of America has consistently disputed the impact of violent media on children, pointing to a drop in crime rates over recent years as proof.
"If movies are causing moral decay, then crime ought to be going up, but crime is going down," MPAA chief executive Jack Valenti told the Washington Post in an interview published on Monday.
Clinton, who has on several occasions urged Hollywood to use restraint, is expected to comment on the report during a campaign appearance with his wife in New York state later Monday. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a longtime campaigner for children, is running for the Senate from New York.
The Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Vice President Al Gore, also weighed in on the report, urging the film, recording and video game industries to agree to an immediate cease-fire in the marketing of adult-rated entertainment to children.
Gore attacks Hollywood
"It's hard enough to raise children today without the entertainment industry making it more difficult," Gore said in a statement.
"We believe in giving parents better information and more tools to help them protect their children from inappropriate material," Gore added.
The FTC, in its report, concludes that despite existing voluntary rating and labeling systems, the film, recording and video game industries have enticed young consumers to buy products that are deemed inappropriate for children.
The federal agency said that they do so largely by placing advertising for these products in publications and TV broadcasts that appeal to children.
Gore called for a six-month deadline for the entertainment industry to adopt the recommendations of the FTC and enforce a voluntary, uniform policy that prohibits such marketing.
If the industry does not comply, Gore and running mate Senator Joseph Lieberman said in their statement they would support tougher measures to hold the industry accountable.
They said if the industry makes a promise not to market the material to children, but then does so, it could be found guilty of false advertising.
The Lion and the Lamb project, a pressure group campaigning against the industry's marketing tactics, said the report laid "bare the dark underbelly" of the US entertainment industry.
"This new FTC report demonstrates all too clearly that movie studios, video game companies and music executives have abused the trust placed in them by millions of parents by marketing violence to children and young teens," the group said in a statement.
