The entertainment industry weathered Senate Committee accusations in September about its marketing practices, portending darker days for the anime industry.

In the last two years, the government justified restrictions on Camel Cigarettes' Joe Camel marketing campaign by implying that a cartoon character is inherently appealing to children. The case brought against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company by concerned mother/ high-profile lawyer Janet C. Mangini enjoyed the backing of, among others, the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as the California Supreme Court.

More recent government criticisms attacked movie industry marketing campaigns, purportedly designed to make mature material "appealing to children." It's an ambiguously defined term that turns up a lot in both proceedings. Specifically, the government accused the industry of putting trailers for R-rated films in front of G-rated and PG-rated films and using children in inappropriately marketing focus groups.

But based on these developments, anime - which often depicts cartoon characters engaged in adult-oriented material - faces a conundrum that might preclude its hopes to achieve recognition in the American consciousness.

The Federal Trade Commission report requested by Bill Clinton after the Columbine shootings in Littleton, Colorado last year, unearthed irrefutable evidence against film studios.

"Companies in the entertainment industry routinely undercut their own rating restrictions by target marketing violent films, records and video games to young audiences. These industries can and should do better than this report illustrates," says FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky. One industry document cited by the FTC Report says that the marketing strategy for a certain unspecified R-rated film demanded that the film be exposed to everyone between the ages of 12 to 18.

Arguably, and cynically so, the average American adult is about as mentally and emotionally developed as a 10-year-old child, which would only justify the motion picture industry's marketing strategy. However the government has a salient point - if the MPAA agreed to establish a rating system to help advise its customers about the content of its product, the industry is breaking its gentleman's contract with the American people.

In a resolution proposed in late September, Hollywood promised to clean up its act if Congress turned down the heat. Of course, that hotly contended 12 year-old to 18 year-old demographic slices into a hefty portion of the anime-viewing audience.

"We clearly label everything," says Jerry Chu, marketing director at Bandai Entertainment explaining his company's approach to marketing. "We even give different ratings to the 'Gundam Wing' released on television and the unedited version we release in stores to let parents know the content of each."

R.J. Reynolds and the entertainment industry also got some heat for placing advertisements in children and teen publications or traffic areas frequented by children. The movie industry openly admitted to utilizing high schools and teen-based periodicals to promote R-rated material but, in a statement by MPAA President Jack Valenti, pointed out the proliferation of demographic overlap in many advertisement mediums. This calls for a kind of balancing act on the part of the marketers.

"Most of the places in which we advertise titles meant for teens, children do have access to but that's not the focus," Chad Kime, marketing supervisor at Pioneer, says about anime. "A lot of these sources are teen focused and a lot of our product is targeted to teens and appropriate for teens. In addition to a rating we also include warnings on the back of the jackets detailing what the content is."

John O'Donnel of Central Park Media, a company with a far more adult oriented catalogue, says "Clear and accurate 'truth in packaging' is the cornerstone of industry responsibility. As far as I know, all of the anime companies are quite serious about proper labeling of content."