ESRB Commits to Parents. Senators Commit to Getting Elected
Question: What do you get when you combine a politically-beleaguered ESRB with a desperate incumbent Senator and a rising star with presidential aspirations?
Answer: The ESRB Retail Council's "Commitment to Parents" Wednesday press conference, attended by Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA), George Allen (R-VA) and Mark Pryor (D-AR).
GP has scoured the ERC's bullet points, which appear worthy enough, but which could just as easily have been announced at the ESRB's office in New York City rather than in the rarified political air of Washington, D.C.
The Senator with election-year problems would be the arch-conservative Santorum. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Associated Press reported yesterday that Santorum trails Democratic challenger Bob Casey, Jr. by 18 points in the latest polls. Even more telling, the same poll showed Santorum receiving an anemic 38% approval rating among Pennsylvania voters.
So, yeah, the Santorum campaign is in a bad way. Showing up to promote the ERC surely can't hurt on the family values front. And having three U.S. Senators stand by its side is a political shot in the arm for the ESRB, which suffered a Congressional beat-down just last week in a committee hearing chaired by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL).
George Allen's career prospects are moving in the opposite direction from Santorum's. The former Virginia Governor and first-term Senator is said to have designs on filling Dubya's seat in 2008.
So what role do Senators Santorum, Allen and Pryor play in the ESRB's new initiative?
Window dressing, apparently. Allen has a blurb on his website about the event, but somehow managed to interpret what he was supporting as an announcement about "a new ratings system for video games."
Hmmmm.... new rating system? GP doesn't think so. The picture accompanying this article, by the way, is lifted from Allen's home page and shows the Senator flanked by ESA President Doug Lowenstein and ESRB boss Patricia Vance.
For his part, Santorum at least appeared to understand what he was attending. The Senator issued a press release saying, in part, "I commend these retailers for truly stepping up to the plate, and I hope parents will make great use of this information to make the best decisions for their children."
As for Pryor, GP can't find any mention of the event on his website. It's possible he wandered in for the coffee and danish.
Speaking about the Commitment to Parents campaign, ESRB President Patricia Vance terms it "an unprecedented commitment aimed at enhancing compliance with store enforcement policies regarding the sale of Mature-rated video games, providing parents with the ability to return or exchange games sold to their children in violation of those policies, and educating customers about ESRB video game ratings."
Also on board is the National PTA. Included in the new ESRB Rating Council (ERC) are retailers Best Buy, Blockbuster, Circuit City, GameStop/EB Games, Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video/Game Crazy, Target, and Wal-Mart. Between them, these corporations operate more than 20,000 retail locations. As part of their ERC commitment, the retailers have agreed to:
-participate in two "mystery shopper" audits each year
-train employees about ESRB ratings and game sales procedures
-make ESRB ratings info available in handouts and on websites
-establish a mechanism for consumer satisfaction for non-compliance wit ESRB regulations
-share "best practices" with other members
Sounds great. We wish the ERC good luck. And good luck to Sen. Allen with that new ratings system.
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