Digital Platform Guidelines

LANGUAGE

• “Hell” “Damn” and “Ass” [in non-sexual situations] may be used.
  • “What the hell” “Get in the damn car” “Move your ass” – acceptable
  • “He/she has a nice ass” – not acceptable

• Anything further (“bitch” “shit” “fuck” etc.) is not acceptable

• Crude references to genitalia (I’ll let you use your imagination) is not acceptable.

• Derogatory references to gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or other defining characteristics of a person is not acceptable, with possible exceptions only when used in an educational context.
  • For example: the use of a racial slur in a trailer for a documentary about race relations in 1960s America might be passable – but please reach out with questions

VIOLENCE

• Impact shots with blood and/or gore is not acceptable (bullet impact, knife impact, punches with gruesome injury etc)
  • Brief impact shots without blood and/or gore is acceptable. For example – Indiana Jones punching someone would be acceptable, as would bloodless impact hits by a blaster a la Star Wars or comic book/fantasy violence a la The Avengers films.
  • For some reason impact shots of knives or blunt weapons (even without blood) are generally treated more strict than bullets, so try to keep that out

• Shots of gore are not acceptable, but blood may be acceptable in certain situations (please reach out with questions)
  • For example, in a horror movie trailer, people stumble upon a room with bloody organs on the floor – not acceptable
    • But, in the same horror trailer, people stumble upon a room with a pool of blood on the floor – likely acceptable

NUDITY and SEXUAL CONTENT

• Any nudity beyond what one would see at a beach is not acceptable.
  • This includes: below the belt shots of men and women, a woman’s exposed chest etc.
    • Under no circumstances should this type of nudity be shown, whether it is sexual in nature or not.

• In the bedroom: I won’t go into too much detail here, but please use your best discretion. Fleeting shots of “passion” is acceptable in green-band trailers, but lingering shots would need to be cut. The (albeit subjective) question you should ask yourself is: would you show this to your 11 year old? Please reach out with any questions.

• Any foreplay – not acceptable

• Detailed depictions of sexual abuse is not acceptable – any depictions should be inferred or fleeting. Please reach out with questions.

DRUG USE

• Any consumption of street drugs and/or abuse of prescription medication is not acceptable
  • Marijuana, cocaine, etc
  • However, showing a street drug not in use (cocaine on a table, bags of pills etc) is usually acceptable

• Consumption of alcohol and smoking tobacco is generally acceptable – we can reach out if anything goes beyond the threshold

MPAA Content Guidelines

VIOLENCE

Realistic or excessive violence, brutality or scary images, including, but not limited to: depictions of blood or wounds; scenes of torture; dismemberments; mutations or mutilations of bodies (including cadavers); people in jeopardy, including images of people being abused, punched, beaten, bound or gagged; disturbing or frightening scenes, including some transformations and morphing particularly when a character becomes abnormal or grotesque; children in peril, including verbal or physical abuse of children; overt references to or scenes depicting death of a parent or a child; realistic depictions of natural disasters; intense depictions or threats from supernatural creatures or the occult; cruelty to animals; and people or animals on fire (except where, in the opinion of the Advertising Administration, the portrayal is clearly unrealistic to audiences, such as a comic book character). Depictions of violence, including but not limited to: excessive gunfire or weapons around children; guns pointed directly at people or the audience; and people in an explosion or violently thrown from an explosion.

Sexuality

Sexuality; nudity; overt references to or scenes depicting rape and sexual molestation; black bars or other mechanisms used to conceal images not appropriate for all audiences; sexual slang; display or discussion of explicit sexual acts, including, but not limited to, sadism, masochism, bondage and discipline, group sex, necrophilia and references to venereal diseases.

Language

Offensive gestures and language including discernible mouthing of offensive language or profanity; sound bleeps; sacrilege, including sacrilegious epithets referring to specific religious figures, such as “Jesus Christ” or “God damn” when used in a blasphemous way; and overt and offensive references to body functions or excessive scatological humor.

Drug Use

Children or adolescents in adult situations or engaging in illegal activity, such as minors using alcohol, drugs or tobacco products, or adults influencing or enticing minors with alcohol, drugs or tobacco products; and depictions of minors in sexual situations. Children or adolescents handling or using weapons, including but not limited to: guns, butcher knives and hatchets. This includes toy weapons if they are realistic in appearance. Depiction of or reference to illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia or material which may glamorize the use of such drugs.

Misc.

References which demean any gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, ethnicity or national origin, or contain offensive depictions of physical or mental handicaps. This is not an exhaustive or exclusive list and the Advertising Administration may revise this list from time to time.
(full guidelines available here)