Ofcom finds Domino's Pizza sponsorship of The Simpsons breaches its code

Following an approach by the National Heart Foundation (NHF), Ofcom, the body responsible for setting broadcast standards for advertising and the sponsorship of programmes, has found Domino's Pizza's sponsorship on Sky TV of The Simpsons to be in breach of its code. One of the objectives of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code addresses the need to protect children from the advertising of certain types of food products.

In this case, the specific rules in question were Rule 9.3, which states that “Sponsorship on radio and television must comply with both the advertising content and scheduling rules that apply to that medium” and Rule 4.2.1 (b), which states that "The following may not be advertised in or adjacent to children’s programmes or programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 16: …(vi) food or drink products that are assessed as high in fat, salt or sugar in accordance with the nutrient profiling scheme published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on 6 December 2005". Products which are high in fat, salt or sugar are referred to as HFSS products. Ofcom viewed the episode of the programme that was broadcast on 30th January, 2008. Subsequently they drew Sky's attention to these rules and sought comments from Sky. Credits Sky pointed out that The Simpsons "does not seek to exclusively target children" and argued that 72% of the audience to a typical episode of the programme were adults. They also contended that the specific service being offered was Domino's Pizza's delivery service, rather than the product itself. Amongst other points in their defence, they also mentioned that the sponsorship credits attached to the programme referred simply to the Domino's brand - a type of advertising which is permissible under the rules. In establishing whether the sponsorship credits were compliant with the code, Ofcom examined three questions: Is The Simpsons likely to appeal to audiences under the age of 16? The rule states that programmes of particular appeal to children are defined as those where the proportion of the programme's audience that is under 16 is at least 20% higher than the proportion of under 16s that would normally be expected for a multichannel audience. In this case, Ofcom found that the actual audience was 81% higher.     Do the sponsorship credits promote a brand or a product and/or service? Ofcom agreed with Sky's contention that the sponsorship credits used promoted "Domino's Delivery Service", but held nonetheless that "the audience watching these credits would reasonably believe that the sponsorship related directly to the supply of the sponsor's pizza product as opposed to its other products" and that the sponsorship promoted the company's pizzas, as well as the delivery service. Do the credits promote an HFSS or non-HFSS product? Here Ofcom found that the credits did not provide enough information for the audience to determine the "nutrient profile" of specific pizza products. The evidence submitted to Ofcom showed that 47%-48% of the sponsor's products were non-HFSS; but Ofcom decided that "Sky had not ... provided evidence that the relevant product range (pizzas) was mainly non-HFSS". Conclusion Ofcom concluded that the sponsorship "amounted to product sponsorship that promotes HFSS foods in programmes of particular appeal to children under the age of 16" and that it was therefore in breach of Rule 4.2.1 (b) of the BCAP Rules on the Scheduling of Television Advertisements and, therefore, also in breach of Rule 9.3 of the Broadcasting Code, which relates to sponsorship. The full Ofcom Bulletin for this case can be found via this page: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/prog_cb/obb128.