New York, New York - August 24, 1999 - The Chuckecheese Website, which is owned and administered by Chuckecheese Entertainment, came to the attention of the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) through its routine patrolling of the Internet as part of the advertising industry's national forum for voluntary self-regulation. This formal case was conducted under the CARU/NAD/NARB Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. CARU's initial review of the Website found that it contained no privacy policy, collected extensive personal information from children and linked to Websites that were not compliant with CARU's Guidelines for Interactive Electronic Media. Chuckecheese Entertainment and CARU worked together to make the site a safer and more friendly place for children. The Website now features a comprehensive privacy policy that is linked to the Website's homepage as well as information gathering screens. In addition, Chuckecheese Entertainment took the pro-active step of providing parents with direct notification via email when their children register for online contests. Lastly, Chuckecheese Entertainment included a bumper, which allows child visitors to know when they are leaving this Website. As a result of its work with CARU, the child-directed Chuckecheese Website is now an archetype of compliance with CARU's Guidelines for Interactive Electronic Media.

Details of the initial inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD Case Report.