New OFLC Classification Markings
Look at this shit! No doubt you’ve seen the new OFLC coloured classification markings all over new DVDs/video game releases and vomited all over them. I mean how intrusive are they? They ruin the cover art that someone has spend hours and hours designing not to mention that when you collect say The Simpsons or The Sopranos boxsets, there won’t be any visual consistency on your shelf. Check out this one on the new Sopranos set. Terrible!
Where the OFLC have really fucked up is the decision to imprint them on the cover as opposed to providing a sticker on the cover than you can later remove. Even a slipcase with the markings on it is a viable option. I mean, nearly all the DVDs I buy are in a plastic seal-proof covering (like they do at JBHIFI) so that people can’t remove anything underneath until it’s purchased.
And is it just me or does the blue M-rating marking on the cover of Hotel Rwanda now imply that it’s potentially a more positive film? The blue draws your eye to it so I guess the classification is clear (which was obviously the effect) but the designer of the cover obviously went for yellow and brown tones to emphasise the themes of the film. Maybe I’m reaching here but if I was glancing through the new releases at the local video store, the first impression I’d come to was that the film wasn’t as intense as the filmmakers intended. Blue to me signifies ‘relaxed’ or ‘calm’ and because these damn marking are so fucking big, it’s hard to get past it.
I think this petition makes a good point and hopefully the OFLC are taking it into consideration.
4 Responses to “New OFLC Classification Markings”
I responded at length to their call for public submissions about the new labels, and vehemently opposed any changes to the classification labels. I agree that the proposed (and now implemented) labels are way too intrusive, fucking up the aesthetics of the covers. I told them to put a very small, discrete rating symbol on the cover, with the text on the back cover. Believe me, some of the proposed labels stretched right across the bottom of the case. Obviously they are trying to make the labels easier to read, but this catering to the dumbest denominators of society is useless. People who were confused or missed the previous labels will also miss these ones. How many millions of tax payers dollars did this exercise cost us? In the UK, the rating symbols are small and yet easy to spot. ‘18′, ‘15′, ‘12′, etc. Fucking basic and informative. I like your idea of having peel-off stickers, but the titles would then loose the marking upon resale second hand or when lent to unsuspecting families.
I guess so but how many warnings do you need? One on the cover, one on the back, on the disc itself and before the movie starts!!!!! That’s four fucking notices before watching the film. Surely that’s plenty.
And you’re right - it’s gonna confuse most people with two existing ratings and it definately would have cost a shit load of tax payers money.
Something tells me the Australian Family Association have been making their presence known about this and put pressure on the OFLC. Maybe they should pay for the costs!
I knew they were never going to reduce the amount of labelling. All of the proposed changes we had to comment on were worse. I was trying to convince them not to make them even more obstusive. Clearly a hopeless venture!
I’m with you man. These ugly bastards are all over everything now, trailers, posters, the lot. I noticed on a trailer on TV last night, they actually had to resize the trailer and put a black strip along the bottom to accomodate the ratings logo, because otherwise it would have obstructed some of the studio logos at the end of the trailer [which was obviously designed for the American market]. The logo was there for the entire trailer.
I think this ship has sailed though, they wont be making any changes to this for a while.
If only they’d created an R rating for games while they were implimenting these changes :/