New Ofcom report finds that many broadcast sponsorship campaigns breached its Code

The latest bulletin from broadcast regulator Ofcom finds that credits used in nine out of more than sixty TV sponsorship campaigns investigated breached the Code governing the use of sponsorship on television. Programmes in breach included Big Brother and The X Factor. Sponsorship credits must comply with Rule 9.13 of the Code which states: "Sponsorship must be clearly separated from advertising. Sponsor credits must not contain advertising messages or calls to action. In particular, credits must not encourage the purchase or rental of the products or services of the sponsor or a third party".

In the case of Big Brother, broadcast between 29th May and October 1st, 2008, on Channel Four and E4, Ofcom found that the reference in sponsorship credits to being able to get "perks at the V festival" was a special promotional reference to the benefits of being a Virgin Mobile customer. Ofcom also judged that the use of promotional language to describe the sponsor's products (eg "fast and easy") went beyond brief descriptions of the sponsor's business and amounted to advertising messages. The credits were therefore in breach of Rule 9.13. Specific Another programme broadcast on Channel Four and E4 (as well as More 4) on various occasions between January 2nd and December 31st, 2008, was also found to have breached the code. In 4Homes programming, Ofcom considered that the overall focus of the credits was the sponsor's business rather than the sponsorship arrangement. The credits contained specific statements about the benefits of the sponsor's products and services, egs "expert providers of home insurance" and "mortgages to suit your needs", which Ofcom considered amounted to advertising messages. Ofcom also judged that the overall effect of the credits was a promotion for the sponsor's business. The credits were insufficiently distinct from the sponsor's advertising and contained specific sales messages about the benefits of the sponsor's products and services. Ofcom therefore ruled that the credits were in breach of Rule 9.13.     Other programmes found to be in breach included The Gadget Show (sponsored by PC World on Five and Fiver), the Weather (on Five, sponsored by BT), The Alan Titchmarsh Show (ITV1, Benecol), Your Natural World programming on UKTV Gardens, UKTV Documentary and UKTV History (also Benecol), daytime programming on Living (Lipobind) and Nestle Cereals' sponsorship of GMTV Weather. The X Factor shows investigated by Ofcom were broadcast on ITV1, ITV2 and ITV2 +1 between 16th August, 2008 and 13th December, 2008, sponsored by Carphone Warehouse. Whilst conceding that "the majority of … credits raised no Code issues", Ofcom was concerned about the fact that "others made reference to the products and services offered by the sponsor". In its decision, Ofcom states: "It is acceptable for brief references to be made to a sponsor's products and/or services in sponsor credits, as a means of helping to identify the sponsor and/or sponsorship arrangement. However, these brief references should not be used as a means for sponsors to promote the benefits of their products or services. "In this case, the credits contained specific statements about the benefits of the sponsor's products and services, eg 'The new Nokia 5310 comes with millions of tracks to download and keep', while other credits used promotional language to describe the range of products available from the sponsor, eg 'We've got a broadband package to suit everyone'". Ofcom decided that the statements were in breach of Rule 9.13.