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I've Won the Lottery - ITV1

(April 2006)

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ST
Stuart
Just noticed the advert in the first commercial break for the programme "I've Won the Lottery" on ITV1 was for the National Lottery.

I thought adverts were not allowed to relate to the programme? Have the rules changed?
HC
Hatton Cross
Yep. It does break the code...

Good Morning Ofcom. Last night ITV1 broke one of your broadcasting codes - namely 4.2.9 Programmes Featuring Advertisements.

The text of the code says..
Advertisements for products or services which appear in any advertisement shown as part of programme content may not be transmitted within or adjacent to that programme.

Therefore an advert for the National Lottery should not have appeared in a break around a programme about lottery winners, and where the lottery logo and game names where named throughout the show in my book counts as an advert, whether Camelot PLC did or did not contribute to the programme budget.
WH
Whataday Founding member
Did you send that to them?
JS
Jenny Smith
Surely ITV would have taken the right precautions prior to broadcasting the trailor. I think the report to Ofcom was very unnecessary because ITV would have had permission before creating the advert.
HC
Hatton Cross
Whataday posted:
Did you send that to them?


Naah. Ofcom will probably find some loophole to squeeze ITV1 though, or ignore all the fact of the case and get steamrollered into passing it by the ITV legalbods.

I've only ever complained to Ofcom once about a programme (through boredom and I went looking for a fight) on UK History, and Ofcom (or whoever it was at the Ministry of Telecommunications that got lumbered with it) managed to fall for the dummy that UKTV sold them. Ignored the drift of what I was telling them (unsuitable footage at 5pm on a Sunday when the original show was aired after the watershed) and UKTV managed to pass it off with half truths and lies.

Feel free though to use what I've posted upstairs on this thread, if you want to try and get ITV1 into a bit of trouble.
HC
Hatton Cross
Jenny Smith posted:
Surely ITV would have taken the right precautions prior to broadcasting the trailor. I think the report to Ofcom was very unnecessary because ITV would have had permission before creating the advert.


The thread starter said it was an advert for the lottery that was shown as the first commercial in the break - not a promo.
A very big difference in the world of programme/advert separation.
JO
jonniew
Slightly off topic but has the BBC always broadcast the lottery and can it continue to do so indefinetly?

Jonnie Very Happy
HC
Hatton Cross
Saturday and Midweek draws have been televised by the BBC since the start and last year the BBC and Camelot signed a deal to continue this arrangement for another few years, after a two way pitch with ITV.

Daily Play has only been shown by Challenge tv since last year - although the draw has been shown on the National Lottery website since the start
Euromillions from the start in Feb 2004 was shown for a year live on Sky One, then there was a year gap before Challenge started broadcasting the draw with a 30 min delay since this January.

There is another 'main' draw starting up in the middle of the year to raise money for the 2012 Olympics (IIRC to be on a Tuesday) and right to televise this draw will be offered to all terrestrial broadcasters.
ST
Stuart
I did send a complaint to Ofcom last night, but only had the automated acknowledgement back so far. The text of my Email was:

Quote:
I've Won the Lottery (ITV1)
During the first commercial break of the above programme there was a lengthy advert for the Lottery itself. It was very difficult to tell where the programme ended and the advertisements began. It looked very much like an endorsement of the product by the programme’s producers.

Surely this is in breach of your rules which do not allow promotion of a programme's subject matter by a company clearly associated with it, during the commercial breaks of the programme itself. Perhaps this was intended to be an hour-long advertisement for Camelot during peak time, possibly paid for by Camelot's purchase of advertising space during the broadcast?

If this is really a change in policy on what can and cannot be advertised then it is a serious step in the wrong direction and should be reversed.

What next, a documentary about Cadburys interspersed with adverts for Creme Eggs? Or a film about the history of Proctor & Gamble filled with adverts for Fairy Liquid and various washing powders?


I post their reply if/when I get it Very Happy Very Happy
AN
Andrew Founding member
Considering It didn't just appear in the middle of a break but it was the first advert of the first break I would expect it was sold as such and therefore would be legal

Also by the way, many times on this forum we've criticised people who complain to Ofcom about trivial things.
TV
tvmercia Founding member
Andrew posted:
Considering It didn't just appear in the middle of a break but it was the first advert of the first break I would expect it was sold as such and therefore would be legal

Also by the way, many times on this forum we've criticised people who complain to Ofcom about trivial things.


to me, editorial independence and perceived independence from advertisers is not trivial.
ED
edward
Wasn't the first advert on during the Charles Ingram scandal on Who Wants to be a Millionaire for a cough sweet?

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