As the summer ends, so ends the season of the superhero blockbuster, and some parents of young boys that I know are still getting over their annoyance at the superhero movie-marketing gap. The toy stores and burger joints carry all the merchandise for the grade-school set – and the movie is rated PG-13. What happens when your first-grader wants to see the movie that’s tied in with his new toy?
Suffice it to say that our news media would be more upset about the fat content in the Happy Meal food than the dangers of taking young children to movies they may not be ready to handle.
"Superman Returns" was a big, noisy, critically acclaimed blockbuster – and it was PG-13 for intense violence. But just look at how the movie was promoted by Burger King: eight different toys, including sweat bands, sunglasses, action figures, Frisbees, and fans. There was even a drawing for a Superman laptop computer.
In addition to that, every major toy retailer had a set of action figures and other toys based on the release of "Superman Returns"– Mattel advertises the toys as for ages "4 and up" – not to mention the Superman tie-in toddler and baby clothes. It’s obvious that Superman is a classic brand, a historic hero of Americana. But it’s also obvious that Hollywood’s own ratings agency suggested that parents should be "strongly cautioned" that a movie "may be inappropriate for children under 13."
McDonald’s put on its own PG-13 promotion for Happy Meals in July and August: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest." It’s a Disney movie, but a big, loud, violent adventure you wouldn’t want to take a kindergartener to see. But you can get eight "Pirates" toys, like inflatable swords and plush little pirates, or go to the McDonald’s website for movie-related "Coloring Fun." In addition, the toy stores also carry the Jack Sparrow action figure and the "Jack Sparrow Electronic Sword" with sound effects. Would you be surprised if young children were eager to see the movie after all the tie-ins?
One expert explained the "Pirates" tie-in isn’t really about the young children, but marketing to young parents through them. The movie is aimed at the 18-to-34-year-old audience that McDonald's treasures. Kathleen Joyce of Promo magazine said "McDonald's is really going after the youth market (with this promotion)." It has more "edge" than more family-friendly fare: ‘Cars’ and ‘Finding Nemo’ don't have the edge of entertainment of something like ‘Shrek’ or ‘Pirates,’ and attracts a different audience."
This is not a new phenomenon: some parents protested this trend almost 15 years ago with Happy Meals for "Batman Returns," an incredibly dark PG-13 movie based on the classic cartoon. The massive "Spider-Man" movies were aggressively pushed in kid’s meals and toy tie-ins, despite their PG-13 ratings.
It’s not just earthly superheroes in the mix, either. Intense marketing to young children came with last year’s "Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith," clearly the darkest film in the whole six-movie arc. It was PG-13, unlike the PG rating granted to Episodes I and II. Action figures from Episode III are still top sellers on toy store websites.
I hope there weren’t many grade-school children who dragged their parents to the theater and witnessed the disturbing violence at the film’s end, including Darth Vader’s slaughtering of grade-school-age Jedi trainees and his fiery disfigurement in a river of lava. It’s a far cry from the Lego Star Wars toys and video games.
The point is not that superhero movies shouldn’t be seen or marketed to children as much as Hollywood should make its superhero movies for a more general audience, and not just assume that the biggest audience is drawn by the darkest action.
