Evidence: '50 Shades of Grey' marketed to children

Still shot from film "Fifty Shades of Grey"

For decades, the first hour of primetime television has been called "family hour," as millions of children watch programs before bedtime, while the later hours are reserved for more adult fare.

For the distributors of the sexually explicit and practically pornographic film "Fifty Shades of Grey," however, "family hour" is apparently the perfect time to pitch their erotic bondage tale to TV audiences.

According to a study by the Parents Television Council of primetime programming from Feb. 1-10, "Fifty Shades of Grey" ads showed up in several "family hour" shows and also showed up in programs rated TV-PG but airing later in the evening.

In fact, 47 percent of the total primetime ads for "Fifty Shades of Grey" aired on the four major broadcast networks (not counting news, sports, reruns or the Super Bowl) either aired during the 8 p.m. ET hour, during TV-PG programming or both.

"When it comes to advertising any product, you want to make sure that the time and place you advertise represents the marketplace you're intending to reach," said Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, or PTC. "When a motion picture company like NBC Universal is marketing ['Fifty Shades of Grey'] to millions of children in the television viewing audience at the time, it suggests to me either they are intentionally doing it or they just don't care.

"For decades, R-rated movies were not allowed to be advertised at certain times of the day," Winter told WND. "It wasn't a federal rule against it; the networks simply knew children were in the audience, that they were responsible for where they placed certain advertising and that the public benefited from that.

"If you have a movie that has such a heavy sex theme – and not just sex, but aberrant and harmful, abusive type of sexual behavior," Winter asked, "why would you ever try to promote that message when you know children are in the audience?"

"Fifty Shades of Grey," the film based on the novel of same name by British author E. L. James, traces the story of a wealthy businessman named Christian Grey who seduces a young college graduate into an ever-darkening sexual relationship that eventually includes domination, bondage and sadomasochism. Despite poor reception from critics, the book has sold over 100 million copies, and the equally panned film is expected to break box office records.

Winter told WND the advertisements for the film haven't just been limited to television, but also include outdoor ads with the tempting tagline, "Curious?" as well as posters places "across the streets from schools" and the controversy over "Fifty Shades of Grey" sex toys being sold in mainstream stores like Target and even placed in one store near "Sesame Street" products and cartoon-superhero toothbrushes:

"About 20 years ago, the tobacco industry had an animated marketing campaign around the character Joe Camel," Winter told WND. "The concern was not that this was a product intended for kids, for this was a product children couldn't even buy [much like tickets to 'Fifty Shades of Grey'], but the whole point was they were creating ads in an appealing way that naturally attracts children.

"When you have ['Fifty Shades of Grey'] posters by the schools and television advertisements running on programs many families rely upon as 'family friendly' because it's rated PG or it's on at ostensibly the 'family hour' of 8 p.m. ET, you go back to what led the public's outrage over Joe Camel," Winter said. "This is very similar and very troubling."

Winter said NBC Universal is likely fishing for controversy, hoping it generates publicity, hype and thus, ticket sales.

So, WND asked, why would PTC bring this to the public's attention? Isn't it just playing into the marketer's hands?

"The worst possible thing concerned Americans could do is remain silent, because if we remain silent, it's an acclimation to acclamation that this is OK," Winter replied. "We must not be silent; we must speak out.

"We're also looking at a possible course of action to take with the Federal Trade Commission, which has rules about marketing adult entertainment to children," Winter said. "We're trying to figure out if legally we've reached that level yet. If so, we'll look to hold the producers and marketers of this material accountable.

"In the meantime," he said, "we have an opportunity to speak up and speak out and ask people if this is the kind of behavior that reflects their values, to encourage people to think carefully about buying a ticket. What is the impact, the consequence of that ticket sale? Are they bringing our society down by that ticket sale? If so, think twice before seeing that film instead of another."

Discover more about how you can make a difference at the Parents Television Council website.