Stop with the violence at the popcorn stand‚ Ster-Kinekor told
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Keep the violence in the cinema and away from the snack bar.
That is what the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled after a complaint about violent movie trailers being shown at the snack bar at Ster-Kinekor cinemas.
Fiona McIlmurray complained about the trailers for “7 Days in Entebbe” and “A Quiet Place”‚ because they are “violent in nature”.
Watch the official trailer for 7 Days in Entebbe, starring Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike.
She added that Ster-Kinekor shows age appropriate trailers in the cinema before a children’s movie‚ but shows violent trailers at the snack bar.
“She (McIlmurray) submitted that one would expect mostly children in cinemas until 5pm so the trailer content should be age appropriate‚” the ASA said.
Watch the trailer for #AQuietPlace, starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.
Ster-Kinekor submitted that age restrictions differ for trailers and movies.
“It (Ster-Kinekor) submitted that the trailer for a film could be rated 13 based on various factors considered by the Films and Publications Board‚ but that the very same film could be rated 16.”
Ster-Kinekor said the trailer for “7 Days in Entebbe” was rated 10-12 PG and the movie was rated 16. Both trailer and movie “A Quiet Place” was rated 13.
The ASA ruled it is irrelevant if the age restrictions of the trailer and movie differ. What matters if the trailer is age restricted.
“If the movie rating was 16‚ but the trailer was not rated‚ the trailer would be acceptable viewing for all audiences. However‚ this was not the case here.”
The ASA said is it “unlikely” that parents will expect their children to be exposed to violent content in a public area.
“They are shown in a public area‚ at the food sales point‚ where parents are unable to make an informed choice as to the content they are exposing their children to‚” the ASA said.
“Even if the age restriction is shown before the trailer and the parent is aware of this‚ the parent will have a hard time controlling what their children see. They will either have to leave the queue or remove their young children from the queue or somehow distract the children.”
The ASA ruled Ster-Kinekor must only show violent trailers at snack bars when there is “no reasonable risk” that children will be exposed to them such as after 5pm.
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