Redbox kiosk drops R titles after complaints

Union City, Ind., machine affected

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 2/5/2008

FEB. 5 | Union City, Ind., has succeeded in getting rid of the R-rated movie titles being rented out of its local McDonald’s Redbox kiosk.

The Redbox machine has not offered R-rated titles for the last couple of months, according to Bryan Conklin, Union City mayor and organizer of the films’ removal.

Rick Reichenbach, owner of the Union City McDonald’s and other nearby restaurants, agreed to take out the R titles after being threatened with a Union City public nuisance citation, Conklin said.

Conklin began pressuring Reichenbach to remove the R-rated Redbox selections in September, because community residents were complaining that it was too easy for young customers to rent titles appropriate only for people older than 17.

People must input their age into the Redbox machine before renting a title, later using a credit card as payment. But Conklin argued this wasn’t enough of a safeguard to prevent kids from taking out R-rated films as the Redbox kiosk is located at family friendly McDonald’s and doesn’t expect employees to do age checks.

Initially, Conklin aimed for Reichenbach to stock only G-rated titles or eliminate the kiosk altogether. But Union City has settled on Reichenbach’s decision to take out the R-rated titles, which Conklin said had represented 40% of the machine’s selection.

“We had gathered over 300 signatures from people asking for the R films to be pulled out completely,” said Conklin. “It’s the whole premise of why we no longer have cigarette vending machines. Some people might say that we are trying to be the moral majority, but you are catering to kids with the Happy Meals. That is your market.”

It is not against the law for any retailer to rent R-rated titles to kids under 17, as the film ratings are voluntarily guidelines and not laws. Most video stores, however, support and promote the voluntary film ratings system, with employees that personally check ages and/or obtain parental consent when renting titles to minors.

Reichenbach was not available for comment. The franchise owner had not received any customer complaints but decided to remove the titles “to respect the wishes of the greater community,” according to one McDonald’s source.

A spokesman for Redbox, which is co-owned by McDonald’s and Coinstar, did not respond to requests for comment at deadline.

After hearing about Union City’s goals, the Video Buyers Group began encouraging members to start similar campaigns to push local Redbox’s to stop offering R-rated movies.

“We had a lady that recently came in the store and wanted to see how we were doing it,” said Alan Denney, owner of Union City K and K Video. “We have [age restriction] stickers on the display boxes and on the DVD discs that we rent out as well. We are following the guidelines.”

Denney agrees that Redbox vending machines, without dedicated staff members on patrol, should not have R-rated content readily available.

“It’s like putting in a pop vending machine and offering some selection of beer but maybe adding a sign that says you need to be 21 years of age. It’s hard to trust kids not to go to the machine,” said Denney. McDonald’s “should follow the ratings guidelines.”