VIDEO PACKAGING REVIEW COMMITTEE (VPRC) – REMIT & GUIDELINES
Membership
Chair - Director BBFC
BBFC - two members
Advertising Standards Authority – one member
Video Standards Council – one member
British Videogram Association – one member
Video/DVD Industry – four members
Quorum: 2
Function
To regulate the sleeves of videos and DVDs.
The VPRC does not consider disc art.
The VPRC does not regulate sleeves for works in
the R18 category (though the requirements of the Video Recording
(Labelling) Regulations 1985 apply).
Objectives
To set and maintain standards of taste and decency
while preserving
the right of the company to advertise the product
the right of the viewer to be made aware of its content
Decisions to approve or disapprove packaging will
also be guided by the main tests set out in the British Code of
Advertising Practice which are that material offered to the public
should be legal, decent, honest and truthful, and should not encourage
unsafe or anti-social activity.
Process
Packaging is assessed by the BBFC in the first
instance and referred to the VPRC as appropriate. Appeals should be
addressed to the Director of the BBFC.
General Guidelines
Legality
Packaging must conform to the requirements of the law, including the
Video Recording (Labelling) Regulations 1985, and should not encourage
illegal activity.
Decency
Questions of taste and decency are those of propriety, or respect for
what might be generally held to be appropriate in a given situation. In
the case of video packaging, the Committee will have regard to the fact
that it will be seen in shops, public places to which children have
access. Packaging likely to cause serious or widespread offence is
unlikely to be approved. Some allowance will be given according to
genre, classification category and appeal.
Honesty
Packaging must not exploit the credulity, lack of knowledge or
inexperience of consumers e.g. by leading the consumer to expect a
product which is very different to the one being offered.
Truthfulness
Packaging must not mislead through inaccuracy, ambiguity,
exaggeration, omission or otherwise. For example, a film may not be
advertised as 'uncut' if in fact it is not. Certain licence is extended
to copy where it is clear that the facts are being comically distorted
and no misunderstanding could therefore exist.
Safety
Packaging must not condone or encourage unsafe practices.
Anti-social Behaviour
Packaging must not condone or provoke violence or anti-social behaviour.
With these broad definitions in mind there follows a list of specific
areas which should either be avoided (especially in works aimed at
children) or treated with caution:-
Areas to avoid or to treat with care
- Sexual violence and threats of sexual violence
- Juxtaposition of nudity and violence
- Strong and realistic threats to defenceless victims
- Torture
- Excessive gore
- Details of strong violence
- Excessive blood – especially on real, contemporary weapons
- Glamorisationof real, contemporary weapons
- Overt sexual activity – including clear suggestion of genital/anal sex
- Vulgar nudity
- Strong sexual references
- Text that promises brutality, torture, sexual violence, or humiliation
This is not an exhaustive list.
The VPRC will take into account the fact that each
item ofpackaging is a separate entity and therefore has a separate
context. Some allowance will be given according to the genre,
classification category and appeal of the work.
The overall impression of a video sleeve is also important and the following factors should be borne in mind -
- Size of image
- Number of times an image is repeated
- Combination of images
- Combination of images and text
Appeals
The VPRC is willing to consider appeals against
its decisions. Letters of appeal should be addressed to the
Director of the BBFC and should be accompanied by the
resubmission form.
Packaging is the public face of the industry and
one by which it may be judged. The VPRC is in part a protection that
the industry has afforded itself and its efforts to maintain standards
should be seen in that light.
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