Advocates: PG-13 rules are being misused

HOLLYWOOD, June 8 (UPI) -- Federal regulations on marketing PG-13 Hollywood fare directly to children are being misused, children's advocates say.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood official Susan Linn said her group objects to studios allowing their PG-13 films to be marketed to children through product advertisements despite the presence of violence in the films, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

Linn said studios take movies such as "Iron Man," which has multiple violent scenes, and bypass federal marketing regulations by having their promotional partners target children.

"Parents say, 'I thought, "How bad could (the movie) be because they have all these toys?"'" Linn said of such marketing tie-ins. "And then they take their 5-year-old to 'Iron Man,' and there are extended scenes of torture."

Such advocates say the regulations are too lax regarding PG-13 fare and have called on groups such as the Motion Picture Association of America to take action.

"The enforcement is totally lacking," Linn told the Times. "By the time it gets back to the MPAA, the damage is already done. They can't pre-empt anything."