If you’ve ever squirmed in a theater while a raunchy movie trailer blared before your child as you waited for your PG picture to begin, or raced for the remote when adult themes barked out from TV ads during your kids’ favorite TV show, you’re not alone.

In a stunning indictment of the way the entertainment industry pushes its products, a Federal Trade Commission study suggests that movie, music and video-game companies routinely and strategically target people younger than 17 with products teeming with themes of violence, sex and drug abuse. 

The yearlong study released yesterday in Washington showed pervasive hypocrisy. While the industries offer self-regulated warning labels and ratings systems, their marketing departments turn around and try to sell R-rated movies, explicit CDs and violent video games precisely to the age groups being cautioned to avoid them.

Although the report’s theme had been leaked to the press earlier, the full text revealed statistics that show targeting the young is the norm, not the exception:

• Music. Of the 55 recordings with explicit-content labels studied by the commission, all had ad campaigns targeted to children.
• Games. Of the 118 electronic games studied with a Mature rating for violence, 83, or 70 percent, were targeted at children.
• Movies Of the 44 movies rated R for violence that were studied, 35, or 80 percent, were targeted at the under-17 audience.

Without naming corporations or retailers, the report said that in addition to the marketing plans, stores are lax in restricting sales of M-rated video games to underage buyers, and that movie theaters are often unsuccessful in keeping those 17 and under out of R-rated films.

The study, conducted at the request of President Clinton in June 1999 in the aftermath of the mass killings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., will be the focus of a hearing tomorrow in Washington, D.C., before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti, in addition to several as yet unnamed entertainment executives, are expected to testify.

Yesterday, Vice President Al Gore called for an “immediate cease-fire” in marketing adult material to children.

Based on the FTC report, Gore called for the entertainment industry to set a six-month deadline to adopt voluntary standards, or, he said, he would support together standards to crack down on the violators.

Texas Gov. George Bush’s campaign called Gore a hypocrite. “Suddenly, Al Gore is telling Hollywood to clean up its act after aggressively cleaning out their wallets for the past year,” said Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett, in a reference to the more than $13 million the Democrats have received in contributions from the entertainment industry.

The Republicans have received more than $8 million from similar sources, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The FTC study found that M-rated video games are regularly advertised. on TV shows whose viewers are predominantly under age 17, and in magazines with a majority of readers under 17.

The commission acquired documents from, various marketing departments. The ad plan for a Nintendo 64 M-rated game recommended the media target audience as “Males 12-17 - primary. Males 18-34 - secondary.”

The marketing strategy for one unnamed R-rated movie was to "find the elusive teen target audience and make sure everyone between the ages of 12-18 was exposed to the film.”

The plan called for teens to distribute promotional items “at strategic teen hangouts such as malls, teen clothing stores, sporting events, driver’s ed classes, arcades and numerous other locations. "

Another company’s marketing strategy stated that “other [television] programs, such as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ WWF and WCW Wrestling cross over to children 6-11 and local television buys targeted this group as well.”

The report also found that virtually every R-rated movie ‘the commission examined was advertised during "Xena: Warrior Princess,” a show as popular with children 6-11 as it was with males 12-17.

Movie trailers also proved troublesome, the report said, because even though they have been approved for all audiences, inappropriate material from R-rated movies often creeps in.

The report noted that the trailer for "I Know What You Did Last Summer” contained references to a decapitation and a person being gutted with a hook.

“It is very difficult to prevent a determined under-17-year-old from sneaking into R-rated movies,” said Jon Forman head of Cleveland Cinemas, which owns the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights and operates Tower City Cinemas in Cleveland. “We already operate with skeleton crews. No theater is going to put an usher in front of every door at all times.”

Unlike the movie and video game industries, whose products are rated by review boards, the l music industry ’s parental advisory stickers are placed on CDs by the record companies.

“It’s like the inmates running the asylum;” said Kevin Clarke of Mentor. “I would much rather see them have specific ratings like the motion picture industry. ”

Clarke, the father of a 13-year-old, persuaded Kmart Corp., Wal-Mart Stores and other retailers to remove offensive CDs from their shelves last year. Then he persuaded Universal Music to add parental advisory stickers to CDs by Blink-182, Powerman 5000 and Godsmack.

"In their defense,” said Clarke, " I think the music industry will take this [ FTC] report seriously. Most of the record companies do a good job of playing by the rules.”

But Hilary Rosen, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group that represents major record labels, blasted the FTC' s conclusions, saying, “Parents, not the government, have the responsibility for guiding children toward music that is appropriate for a child’s age and maturity. ”

The FTC recommends new codes that prohibit marketing to children and sanctions for violations; increased parental understanding of what the ratings and labels mean; and increased compliance by retail stores. A jump-start on the third point came last week when Kmart and Wal-Mart both announced tougher policies regarding underage sales of M-rated video games. Bar codes will now prompt sales people to ask for a customer’s ID. If they are underage, they must have a parent or guardian buy the game.

Information from the Washington Post was used in this articles.