Rich Fiscus
7 Oct 2007 13:47
A City Councilman in Union City, Indiana wants to force the owner of a McDonald's franchise to either remove the Redbox DVD rental kiosk that sits outside, or stock it with nothing but G rated movies.
After reportedly asking franchise owner Rick Reichenbach to either remove the machine or change the selection of available movies, Bryan Conklin intends to file for an injunction from the state forcing the removal of the movies. He said “Our intention is that, if this is going to be for the general public, then we are asking them to have G-rated films only.”
Redbox VP of marketing Gary Lancina said, “Redbox is intended for use by customers age 18 years and older. We feel the appropriate measures are in place to allow parents and families to make educated choices regarding age-appropriate entertainment options when using Redbox kiosks.” He added “Any time a customer selects an R-rated Title, a screen appears informing the customer that they will be renting a DVD with an R-rating. Customers then have a chance to select a different movie or proceed with their rental. To date, we have not experienced problems regarding age restrictions."
Conklin has gotten support from traditional brick and mortar rental operations, who say they only want Redbox held to the same standards as everyone else. “We are monitored for what we rent, and no one is monitoring these machines,” said Alan Denney, owner of local video rental store K and K Video. “Wal-Mart even has to validate certain transactions, since they have an image to protect.”
Source: Video Business