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."
"what else is there to say?"
Here is "what else to say": Brent Bozell should stick to monitoring MEDIA bias and stop running some goofy site for fundies who freak out whenever someone says "wee wee" on "Everybody loves Raymond" or whenever there is actually a bloody crime scene on a CSI show. IMHO Brent B. is a man with too much time on his hands (and I'll resist any Pee Wee Herman references here, heaven forbid Brent should turn his wrath against ME now). LOL
Enjoy your stay, however long or short it may be.
Boy crazy at 8? Yikes. I have a 15 year old daughter who is in love with Orlando Bloom too. But then, when I was a kid I had the hots for Raquel Welsh. I can't be too hard on her. :)
You're a better man than I, Sam's Army.
Not a chance, but thanks.
"I thought maybe it was rabid Jar Jar Binks fans upset over his shoddy treatment."
PLEASE tell me if i go to see this movie that i will see Jar-Jar Binks meet a horrible slow death......oh please, please, please
Well, sorta. He's in the funeral procession of someone who met a horrible slow death.
When I was 8, I had a crush on David Cassiday. I think my daughter has better taste than I did at her age.
Bravo!
Kids in past generations saw worse...Like the British kids who lived through the Blitz, Kids in the American Old West, and Kids who witnessed 9/11 live and in person...like the three 11 year old boys going to the National Geographic Camp who were on Flight#77.
Perspective, people.
That doesn't too bad.
Bozell needs to get some freakin' glasses so he van see the ONN/OFF switch on his TV better.
This is attempted CENSORSHIP and wrong. These busybodies are no better than the Taliban.
I hate pro rasslin', but I'm so glad McMahon gave this twit a smackdown.
The first Burger King (1954) had burgers and shakes for 18 cents each.
My husband could not bear Jar Jar. He refused to see the movie until some friends invited us over for movie night - and guess what movie they had for us to watch - that Star Wars Movie with Jar Jar. So he had to see it. He got through it somehow.
My son is 7. I talked with him about the movie this afternoon. I think my husband and I will go see it first and if we think he can handle it then I'll take him. My son assured me he knew it wasn't real. I just don't want it to be disturbing.
I understand everyone's definition of "bad" differs. He had no problem seeing the other 5 over the past year. I wanted to know how this differed and got the PG13 rating. Sounds like it is basically more graphic.
So, I'll make up my mind after seeing it myself. Thanks for all the input.
Don't worry too much. I always thought the bad guys were hunks also. Ended up marrying a nice conservative guy. I think the attraction is because the bad guys show testoterone(sp?) which most women find very attractive. Then you grow up and find that conservative guys show much more testorone than the metrosexual liberal guys.
Don't worry too much. I always thought the bad guys were hunks also. Ended up marrying a nice conservative guy. I think the attraction is because the bad guys show testoterone(sp?) which most women find very attractive. Then you grow up and find that conservative guys show much more testorone than the metrosexual liberal guys.
Well, my daughter has already picked out her husband. He's a nice, smart boy whose dad teaches at a Christian high school. So far, my daughter does have good taste in who'll she'll marry.
LOL! My friend's little girl has her eye on my 7 year old boy. Says she is going to marry him. Thankfully he is at the age that the remark doesn't send him screaming from the room yet. Will be interesting to see how things turn out in 30 years. Okay, 25 years.
Your argument is baseless, and to compare Christians to the taliban speaks volumes of you.
No, I'm one myself. But I don't believe in forcing my beliefs on anyone.
People who wish to force companies who are in businesses open to all by ways of threats and boycotts go too far. If you don't like the movie, stay home. If you don't like the TV show, change the channel or turn it off. But its not yours or anyone's place to keep others who want to see a movie, eat at a restaurant, or watch a certain TV show from doing so by coercion.
Maybe the Taliban comparison might seem extreme, but that's exactly how they were. Their way of the highway. What's Bozo's implied threat to BK here? If its not "Back away from this movie or we'll do what we can to financially destroy you", then what in blazes is it?
That's not a teaching of Jesus. Its more like one of Al Capone - who said "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word."
We don't live in a theocracy, and the sooner you social conservatives get that, the sooner we'll be the movement Sen. Goldwater wanted. He had little use for the religious right, too.
I take Jesus at his word about not making a big show over my religion. Some of y'all should try it sometime.
Peace
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