Olympus Has Fallen movie ads spark $2m fines – because trailer was too realistic!

SlickSnake

Diamond Member
May 29, 2007
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Some complainants reported “jumping out of the bath and rushing to the TV screen” after hearing an advert for the 2013 film Olympus Has Fallen, which included official warning signals and the words “this is not a drill”.

Seriously? "jumping out of the bath and rushing to the TV screen" for a TV movie ad? Who takes a nice long bath and leaves the TV on in the next room? I sure don't. When I leave the room, the TV goes off. If I want entertainment in the tubby, I might turn on the stereo and play some music. But I don't wander aimlessly around the house and leave the TV on constantly in another room.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-movie-trailer-was-too-realistic-9170501.html
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
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they weren't fined because of it being to realistic. they are fined for using something they are not supposed to use.


The commercial in question uses sounds similar to those use by the Emergency Alert System, running afoul of FCC rules against airing the tones outside of an actual emergency or test of the system. The ad also displays text on the screen stating “THIS IS NOT A TEST” and “THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

The FCC penalized the cable channels for airing the advertisement multiple times on several channels, both national and regional. Viacom faces a proposed fine of $1.12 million for airing the ad 108 times, while ESPN’s fines total $280,00 for airing the ad 13 times. NBCUniversal-owned networks aired the ad 38 times, for a proposed fine of $530,000.
 

SlickSnake

Diamond Member
May 29, 2007
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they weren't fined because of it being to realistic. they are fined for using something they are not supposed to use.

Well, I didn't come up with the title of the article, I just modded it a bit to add in the movie name.

And yes, obviously. Someone goofed up good in the movie trailer department for sure. But I bet they can also appeal the fine by using some kind of excuse like artistic license since it's a fictional movie trailer and wasn't intended to be taken seriously. As the stations pointed out, they do not take part in the program anyhow. You would think the law and fines would be intended to be levied for a deliberate and willful attempt to deceive the public and create a false panic of some sort at a station that actually took part in the program. Like a bunch of stupid drunks partying at a TV or radio station and setting off the official tones repeatedly just for laughs.
 
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Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
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Using audio and/or visual effects that look and sound like a real emergency alert seems like a bad idea.
 

Wonderful Pork

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2005
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I hate it when songs use sirens & horns as well, always makes me do a double take while driving.

Anyway, seems like a good rule for the FCC to have in place.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
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Seriously? "jumping out of the bath and rushing to the TV screen" for a TV movie ad? Who takes a nice long bath and leaves the TV on in the next room? I sure don't. When I leave the room, the TV goes off. If I want entertainment in the tubby, I might turn on the stereo and play some music. But I don't wander aimlessly around the house and leave the TV on constantly in another room.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-movie-trailer-was-too-realistic-9170501.html

So... because you can't fathom other people doing it, it doesn't make sense to you, and is therefore not worthy of followup by the FCC?

Seriously?

Plenty of people leave their TV on. Some many, that is there link to the world - not smartphones or computers or tablets or other portable devices. These are the same people who have been conditioned by the emergency alert tone to take notice and find out what is going on.


And without quoting another point you made in a follow-up post, creative license need not apply.
Much like yelling fire in a crowded theater is illegal and not protected by the First Amendment, broadcasting the emergency tone when it is not called for (and it's not a test of the system) is also illegal in some way.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
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Well, I didn't come up with the title of the article, I just modded it a bit to add in the movie name.

And yes, obviously. Someone goofed up good in the movie trailer department for sure. But I bet they can also appeal the fine by using some kind of excuse like artistic license since it's a fictional movie trailer and wasn't intended to be taken seriously. As the stations pointed out, they do not take part in the program anyhow. You would think the law and fines would be intended to be levied for a deliberate and willful attempt to deceive the public and create a false panic of some sort at a station that actually took part in the program. Like a bunch of stupid drunks partying at a TV or radio station and setting off the official tones repeatedly just for laughs.

I hope they appeal. It really needs to be cleared up whether or not the FCC has any say in content broadcast over cable channels. The only way they can claim they do is due to the use of satellite transmission as part of the delivery system to the local cable/satellite providers.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
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I leave my tv on pretty much all the time unless I'm out of the house.
 

SlickSnake

Diamond Member
May 29, 2007
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So... because you can't fathom other people doing it, it doesn't make sense to you, and is therefore not worthy of followup by the FCC?

Seriously?

Plenty of people leave their TV on. Some many, that is there link to the world - not smartphones or computers or tablets or other portable devices. These are the same people who have been conditioned by the emergency alert tone to take notice and find out what is going on.


And without quoting another point you made in a follow-up post, creative license need not apply.
Much like yelling fire in a crowded theater is illegal and not protected by the First Amendment, broadcasting the emergency tone when it is not called for (and it's not a test of the system) is also illegal in some way.

I know several people who literally run the TV 24 hours a day 7 days a week. One does it to entertain his pet. The other does it because he's afraid of ghosts. Is that your point? What a good one! And when their houses burn down because the TV catches on fire one day, I will be the first to say I told you so, too. One guy already had one TV catch fire when he wasn't home, and he still does it. You just can't fix stupid, can you?

And concerning the other point you made, creative license can and does apply. And here's a recent media related link to prove it.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/02/19/minn-man-claims-win-over-national-security-agency/
 
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destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
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I know several people who literally run the TV 24 hours a day 7 days a week. One does it to entertain his pet. The other does it because he's afraid of ghosts. Is that your point? What a good one! And when their houses burn down because the TV catches on fire one day, I will be the first to say I told you so, too. One guy already had one TV catch fire when he wasn't home, and he still does it. You just can't fix stupid, can you?

And concerning the other point you made, creative license can and does apply. And here's a recent media related link to prove it.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/02/19/minn-man-claims-win-over-national-security-agency/

My point? I couldn't care less WHY people leave a TV on in the background, it doesn't matter one point for this thread.

And why is that?
Because your point about creative license couldn't be any further from this specific instance. There is ZERO use of creative license in this case. Yes, it's intended - but that sound must NEVER be broadcast (hint: on TV - movie theaters can do what they want) unless for its one and only function.

Changing a logo/art to be something different, and airing the emergency tone, are two entirely different things.


The point being: no matter how you personally feel about it, the FCC will be collecting for this violation. There really is no way around it. It's also a mostly chump-change fine for the stations, but it does leave a lasting point.
 

yuchai

Senior member
Aug 24, 2004
980
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Seriously? "jumping out of the bath and rushing to the TV screen" for a TV movie ad? Who takes a nice long bath and leaves the TV on in the next room? I sure don't. When I leave the room, the TV goes off. If I want entertainment in the tubby, I might turn on the stereo and play some music. But I don't wander aimlessly around the house and leave the TV on constantly in another room.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-movie-trailer-was-too-realistic-9170501.html

I would never do that at home, but have done as described on occasion in a hotel room.

Edit: as in leaving the TV on while taking a bath, not jumping out of the bath & rushing to the TV for something being shown on the TV.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
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3460909-thread_backfire_gif.gif
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
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they can send out wireless emergency alerts on your cell phone now. i can see that be annoying.

Only if you live in an area that has emergencies constantly ;)

You have the option of disabling them (or at least you do on Android...), but I have opted to leave mine on. I rarely ever get anything, but I don't mind seeing emergency weather notification or Amber alerts.
It's so rare, I haven't even gotten one on my current phone (Moto X), which I've now owned since mid-December. So I guess that goes into it - more common, like weekly tests? Ugh. As it is now, where it could actually matter? Fine by me. More often than not I won't be around a radio or a TV that's on a local/public station (think: OTA channels), so that's the most effective route to notify me of something important.

edit:
I may have gotten one since I got the phone, cannot remember. I think the last emergency notification I got was actually a CNN bulletin about an active shooter situation.
Which actually surprised me that THAT is put into the emergency notification system, but that's also immeasurably awesome that it is. It might be exceptionally rare that it would ever be important to YOU, but the moment it is, I think we'd all be dancing a happy dance and sending thank-you letters for such an alert. Unless it didn't really save us or a loved one, then we'd be angry it didn't come sooner or something and probably try to start a lawsuit. lmao
 
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M0oG0oGaiPan

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Dec 7, 2000
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the problem is the alert might not even be for your specific region. it can be an amber alert. I'm almost positive I got one for a silver alert. I didn't even know what that was at the time. Since it's a text of course I'm going to be looking at my phone while I'm driving. I didn't realize you could opt out.
 

Wonderful Pork

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2005
1,531
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they can send out wireless emergency alerts on your cell phone now. i can see that be annoying.

my area got an amber alert at like 2am - scared the crap out of me and my wife. The police issued an apology the next day. They also set up automatic tweets for car accidents & road closures, which is super useful too - but its like a tweet every 5 minutes which destroys your phone. In short, they are trying but need to work out some issues with the technology they're using.