Posted on 05/24/2005 11:24:34 AM PDT by Borges
The Force may - or may not - be with Burger King's latest Star Wars-themed Kids Meals.
One day after a record-shattering weekend for Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, an advocacy group is asking Burger King to stop the tie-in of its Kids Meals with the film because it is rated PG-13.
The same group, Dove Foundation, got McDonald's 13 years ago to apologize for "confusion" from its promotion of PG-13 Batman Returns with Happy Meals. Now, it's going after BK's latest Kids Meal promotion - targeted at kids ages 4 to 9. The meals feature characters from Sith or other Star Wars films.
"When Burger King puts that in a Kids Meal, there's an implicit endorsement of the movie," says Dick Rolfe, chairman of Dove Foundation.
This is no small matter. Product licensing and promotion is a $100 million annual business. Since the first Star Wars was released in 1977, the six films have racked up almost $9 billion in merchandise sales and product promotions.
For Burger King, the stakes are huge. The No. 2 burger chain is in the 16th month of a major rebound. The Star Wars promotion, dubbed "Choose Your Destiny," is the 50-year-old chain's first global promotion.
Burger King officials insist the promotion isn't specific to the latest film (the others are rated PG), but one that relates to the chain's long-term relationship with the Star Wars franchise. Executives point out that only four of the 31 Kids Meal toys are specific to Sith.
The toys "clearly celebrate not just one film but the entire Star Wars saga," says Edna Johnson, a Burger King spokeswoman. "The reception at our restaurants and from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive."
But Rolfe says "the tie-in is very specific to this film." Wrappers around Kids Meal toys all promote Sith, he notes.
Dove Foundation, a non-sectarian family advocacy group, sent an overnight letter to Burger King last Thursday requesting the promotion be stopped. It also conducted a national phone survey of 889 adults and says 83% felt the promotion was not appropriate for kids.
Another critic says the fault isn't that of Burger King but Star Wars creator George Lucas. "It's irresponsible of George Lucas to OK the marketing around this PG-13 movie to young children," says Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and author of Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood.
"Star Wars is broader than a single movie," says Lynn Fox, a LucasFilm spokeswoman. "Parents know that Star Wars has been a positive influence."
A bigger crime would be to feed your kids fast food.
Thank you. I will consider those things.
Seems like a perfect promo to me. Many a Star Wars fan lives at home with their parents. Children who get the kids meal also live at home with their parents.
Thanks
I think you hit all the P-13 parts except, I would add, the killing of a surrendered opponent.
He does have one line:
"Excuse me."
You see Darth Vader go evil. He beheads (off-camera) Darth Siduous' old apprentice. He takes the lead in the extermination of the Jedi - including little kids (although that, also, takes place off camera).
Probably most distrubing of all, you watch Darth Vader catch fire in a volcanic eruption.
How old is your son? Can he handle the realization that Anakin Skywalker is not being glorified, but that he is, rather, a tragic hero falling from grace?
So Mara, what's it like to be married to Luke. Does he know how to use his light saber?
Whats your definition of "bad"?
That must have been when I sneezed! A well placed sneeze if you ask me!!!
I think that they should have worked harder to get a PG rating for the movie.
A good director can deliver an exellent movie while keeping it PG. Star Wars is a movie series that should be kept PG.
I enjoy R and PG-13 movies, but I don't think more explicit violence or gore suits Star Wars.
You must be a fan of the EU?
Oh my, thats obscure. Dang we are OLD!
How 'bout just stop that creepy plastic-looking Burger King guy on the commercials?!?!?!
I wasn't alive when that movie came out!
Oh, you think so, Doctor? ;o)
Uh, they should have brought this up *many* months ago when it was known the film would be PG-13.
Lucas really messed up with the pg-13 rating. From my perspective, they could have saved the gore from the movie and it would have helped it.
I think if they tried hard enough to make it just PG the movie would have sucked just as bad as the previous two.
It's a trade off...no Ewoks, limited Jar Jar and an appearance by Chewbacca for maybe a little more violence and a darker feel. (which in my opinion as a 30 year old Star Wars geek totally rocked!)
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