‘Wildwood’ Ads Pulled from Kid-Friendly Roblox Game Following TINA.org Inquiry

Debuting in theaters on Friday, “Wildwood” follows a teenage girl named Prue who goes on a journey to find her baby brother Mac after he is snatched by a murder of crows. The animated movie has been described as a “dark fairy tale” and its PG-13 rating reflects its mature themes. In fact, film critics have warned parents that “this isn’t a kiddie movie” and that they should “think twice” about bringing their kids.

Yet up until late last week, “Wildwood” was being promoted in a kid-friendly Roblox game to players as young as five, despite a Roblox policy prohibiting ads that “depict or promote” PG-13 movies when the audience includes users ages 5-8. In-game promotions included a prominent movie trailer in the starting area of the game featuring the scene where Mac gets abducted by crows. And next to the movie trailer was an entrance to “Wildwood” where players were greeted by Prue, who asked for help in finding her missing baby brother.

The game, Cinnamon Software’s Life Together, is one of the most popular roleplay games on Roblox with more than 4 billion visits since it launched on the platform in 2023. Set in a virtual town, the game features a variety of activities that appeal to young users. They can grab a cone at the local ice cream shop Coastal Cones, take a ride on Wild Mouse, a kiddie coaster on the pier, and – every child’s wish – go to the playground. With the lowest “minimal” maturity rating, Life Together is open to all ages on Roblox.

TINA.org reached out to Roblox, Cinnamon Software and Laiki, the studio behind “Wildwood,” for comment on its findings. Roblox and Laiki did not respond. Cinnamon Software said that the “Wildwood integration,” as the company called it, was “registered” with Roblox, and that it had been “in direct communication with their team regarding the campaign.”

Important changes have followed.

Specifically, both the “Wildwood” trailer and the adjacent Wildwood-branded experience – which also played a trailer for the movie – are no longer accessible to users under age 13. For this group of Roblox users, only the crows remain:

In 2022, TINA.org filed a complaint with the FTC over undisclosed advergames (advertising disguised as games) targeting minors on Roblox. Since then, Roblox has gone back and forth on a ban on ads intended for kids under 13 and now allows such advertising with some restrictions – like the one about PG-13 movies not being suitable for users ages 5-8.

We entered Life Together and were presented with marketing for “Wildwood” using a 5-year-old child account. At age five, research shows that distinguishing between traditional advertisements like TV commercials and other content is only possible with perceptual cues like “We’ll be right back after this message” or because commercials are shorter. Suffice to say, this is not how ads work on Roblox where the line between marketing and entertainment is often blurred – if there is any boundary at all. Even children many years older are unable to recognize the promotional nature of advergames.

The bottom line

Roblox touts that its policies “are stricter than many other platforms,” but what good are they if they aren’t enforced? And what are the consequences for developers who violate platform policies? That was just one of the questions we posed to Roblox that went unanswered.

Find more of our coverage on Roblox.