I grew up with Indiana Jones movies and I’m a big fan. The latest installment of the movie has been eagerly anticipated by the entire family. Even my 5-year-old has Indy fever. Of course, it would be hard for him not to catch it.
Long before the movie trailers and ratings were released, my son got his first look at Indy while playing Lego Star Wars. A preview of the Lego Indiana Jones game was included. It’s even possible to unlock Indy as a character in the Lego Star Wars video game. The game also wetted his appetite for the real world Lego building sets featuring Indiana Jones.
There have been no shortage of Indy tie-ins promoted on TV commercials on kids’ TV channels. On a recent grocery shopping trip, my son picked out Indiana Jones fruit snacks and begged for the Pops cereal because Indy was on the box (with a bonus light-up spoon). At my son’s birthday party, he received more than one Indiana Jones play set. I was charmed when the action figure included a tiny whip.
I was thrilled to see one of the original Indiana Jones movies on the TV schedule on a rainy Saturday. It was time to get the entire family up to speed on the Indy lore in preparation for the film’s release. Three quarters of the way through “Temple of Doom,” I realized that I’d forgotten one of the scenes involves a character ripping a heart out of someone’s chest. Ooops! Picture a frantic search for the remote control and JediMom asking kids, “So who’s ready for lightsaber training?”
It suddenly became clear in my cracked crystal skull that Indiana Jones was not a family film. Why did I enable and even encourage the Indy frenzy in my house? Perhaps it was my nostalgia for the original films. Perhaps it was the 6-month onslaught of marketing. Either way, Lego Indy is the only version that my son will see this summer.
I wonder why there’s such a big push to market PG-13 movies to preschoolers. Apparently, I’m not the only one wondering. The group, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has a campaign to stop the marketing of violent movies to preschoolers. According to a May CCFC newsletter, the MPAA has rejected an FTC recommendation to adopt clear marketing guidelines for PG-13 movies. If you’re sick of inappropriate movies being marketed to your young children on everything from fruit snacks to kids’ meals, there is a petition you can sign.
Tags: ccfc, children, indiana jones, marketing, mpaa, PG-13 movies![[Post to Twitter]](http://www.jedimom.net/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter-big3.png){kind=icon}
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Here, here. It happens everytime a movie comes out. Remember the last Spiderman movie? My son was dying to get to it, but there was no way he was going to see it. Yet all the marketing was at kids his age. Then when Shrek 3 came out, our supermarket shelves were full of Shrek junk labelled as healthy foods – cereals, jellies, soups. Yes, as parents we can say no to pester power, but I think there’s something sick with the way these companies market to young kids, who don’t have the wisdom to say no.
@bronnie You’re right. It’s our job to say “No” but it’s not easy to get out from under the avalanche. Why do they advertise these movies on nickelodeon during shows geared at kids under 7?
I also read they are advertising an Indiana Jones Burger King tie-in for a burger meal with an absurd number of calories: http://www.sustainweb.org/news.php?id=217
[...] Even the most vigilant media-aware parents can’t detect it all: Indiana Jones Marketing Defeats JediMom Radar. [...]
Hi, Lisa
This is a great blog entry – you are not alone. You probably know them, but if not I recommend you check out Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org
I’d appreciate your impressions of http://www.healthymediachoices.org if you have time. About to do a re-vamp.
Glad to be co-following on Twitter @MaryRothschild
Peace,
Mary
Mary L. Rothschild, Director
Healthy Media Choices
http://www.healthymediachoices.org
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Brattleboro, Vermont 05301
Host: “How Are the Children?”
streaming at http://www.wvew.org
Tuesday at 1 pm
Just had this conversation with a friend! My 9 and 5 yr old boys have shared the summer obsession for Indy. (Even the Wii game is an E10+ rating!) I will respond to the links above about the marketing to children…enough voices…may change things! My husband and I were watching the same Indy you were talking about and I had to leave the room at the heart scene, I was done with it. We looked at each other stunned and really had to think about why we thought it was going to be okay for the kids. Advertising perhaps, combined with “all my friends have seen it” and one must take an unpopular stand sometimes.
Thanks for putting voice to a shared concern…just found your site today…great work.
Now if I could just get the batteries out of the Indy whip he got for his birthday to end the endless repetition of the theme song…..
Hi there, I fell lucky that I located this post while browsing for star wars theme song. I am with you on the topic of Jones Marketing Defeats JediMom Radar | JediMom Blog. Ironically, I was just putting a lot of thought into this last Sunday.