Media and entertainment industries have joined together to launch a national multimedia public service advertising campaign asking parents to take a more active role in their children’s television viewing habits and use parental controls. The PSAs are being distributed to media outlets nationwide this month.
The campaign, entitled "Media Management," was produced by the Advertising Council in partnership with the Motion Picture Association of America; the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, representing cable programmers and operators; the National Association of Broadcasters; the Consumer Electronics Association; television broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX; and direct-to-home satellite providers DirecTV and Echostar.
The media company campaign partners have committed $300 million in advertising time and space for the new PSAs over the next eighteen months. The campaign, created by advertising agency McCann Erickson New York, includes television, radio, print and Web advertising.
Research has shown that while the majority of parents have serious concerns about age-inappropriate television content, a large number of families aren’t restricting their kids. A Kaiser Generation M study shows that 53 percent of 8- to 18-year-olds said their families have no rules about TV watching.
The television spots send the message, "You’re the boss of what your kids watch. Make the rules. Know the ratings. Use parental controls." The campaign also encourages parents to visit a new Web site, www.TheTVBoss.org, which features tips on managing television programming (including using the V-chip and cable/satellite blocking mechanisms).
"For the first time parents have total power to control all TV programming in their home. Through TV, cable and satellite blocking mechanisms, parents can become the TV Boss in their homes," said Jack Valenti, former MPAA president and CEO. "Whatever programs parents believe to be unsuitable for their nine and ten year olds, can be easily blocked, so that when parents go out to dinner, they can be secure in the knowledge they have blocked out all programs they don’t want their young children to watch."
To view the new PSAs, visit http://www.adcouncil.org/default.aspx?id=360.
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