A LEADING car manufacturer, a top health spa and a chain of pet stores have
enjoyed tens of thousands of pounds worth of free air-time on The
Apprentice, the hit BBC1 show fronted by Sir Alan Sugar.
They are among a string of firms that have benefited from being name-checked
personally by Sugar or having their products displayed prominently on screen.
Insiders at the BBC complain that the programme, which regularly attracts more
than 5m viewers, is a “plug fest” and believe it may be flouting the
corporation’s editorial guidelines.
While Sugar has spoken of his contempt for candidates seeking celebrity rather
than business careers, there are now fears that the show has allowed itself
to be hijacked by companies bent on self-promotion.
This weekend a BBC source said: “There is a lot of disquiet among senior
management. The guidelines about what can and can’t be shown are open and
simple, and managers now believe they are being breached.”
John Beyer, director of media-watch-uk, a pressure group for quality
television, called on the BBC Trust, the corporation’s watchdog, to
investigate. “There seems to be an awful lot of indirect advertising in each
show,” he said.
Companies that have received free exposure include Chrysler; Champneys health
resorts; Pets at Home, a national chain of pet stores; a motor-racing
circuit in Bedfordshire; a bowling alley in central London; Moët &
Chandon champagne; and Argento wine. Videophones made by Amstrad, Sugar’s
company, have also appeared in every episode so far, although the firm
states they are old stock.
Some products were filmed with lingering camera shots — while at least two
companies have tried to cash in on their association with The Apprentice.
The BBC’s editorial rules state: “We must avoid any undue prominence or giving
the impression that we are promoting or endorsing products, organisations or
services.”
Now in its third series, The Apprentice features a group of young
entrepreneurs competing to win the top prize of a job and six-figure salary
with Sugar at Amstrad.
In each episode the contestants are divided into two teams and set a business
challenge. The winning team is rewarded with a luxury “treat”, while a
member of the losing team is sent packing by Sugar’s famous catchphrase:
“You’re fired.”
Chrysler has loaned — free of charge — a fleet of black Grand Voyager people
carriers, which each cost up to £30,000, to ferry the contestants around
during their tasks. The vehicles have appeared in every episode of the
current run, and Chrysler’s distinctive badge and grille have been show in
close-ups. The vehicles were also used in the first two series.
Nick O’Donnell, Chrysler’s public relations manager, said: “As a product
placement for us it has been very successful.” But he added: “We’ve not
asked for any guarantee of coverage.”
There is no suggestion that companies have paid to be featured on the
programme, a practice outlawed by the European Union.
Firms that have supplied the reward for the winning team each week have done
well out of the show. In the fifth episode, Sugar name-checked Champneys,
adding: “Your treat is going off to a fantastic health resort where you are
going to be pampered. It’s been visited in the past by people like the
Beckhams and Naomi Campbell because it’s made for you kind of stars.”
Footage of the winning team at the resort showed one of the contestants
reading a Champneys brochure, while alert viewers would have seen the firm’s
logo on its bathrobes.
Champneys did not charge talkbackThames, producer of the show for the BBC, for
use of its facilities — which can cost up to £240 a day per person — and
later issued a press release on its website trumpeting its links to The
Apprentice.
It is an apparent breach of BBC rules which state that, where services or
props have been acquired for free or at a discount, “we must inform
suppliers that they cannot refer to the BBC’s use of their products or
services in any advertising or promotions”.
Sharon Scott of Champneys said: “We do generally get a bit of an upsurge in
visits to the website and calls after something like that.”
She said no brand-related coverage was promised by talkbackThames, but added:
“We deal with these kind of filming things on quite a regular basis and
we’re very aware that you generally only get one verbal [mention], one
visual [mention] if you’re lucky.”
Sugar appeared to abandon his customary cynicism last week when announcing the
latest reward: “Your treat is that you are going to the Jonathan Palmer
Racing Experience at the Bedford Autodrome. You’ll be driving Formula One
cars.”
In fact the winners were filmed in less glamorous Caterham cars, but again the
event was laid on for free.
Jon Tait of PalmerSport said: “Clearly there’s some benefit to appearing on
TV, although there was no agreement that anything would be plugged or filmed
or that they would show logos.”
Another firm that has boasted of its association with The Apprentice is
Rotormotion, which runs VIP helicopter charters. In one episode, where it
transported Sugar to a board-room meeting, its internet address was clearly
visible on the side of the helicopter.
Although talkbackThames is understood to have paid “the going rate”, the
Rotormotion website lists The Apprentice as a client and features a quote
from Sugar saying: “Nice flight.”
Sue Spencer, the company’s operations manager, said: “We would not have asked
for free advertising and we didn’t expect the name of the company to appear
. . . Maybe it’s an oversight on the part of the BBC.”
Pets at Home appeared on the second episode of the show, in which contestants
were asked to design and market a pet accessory. Footage was shot inside and
outside one of its stores.
Sarah Spencer, of Pets at Home, said: “It was very beneficial; it was
wonderful for us . . . It’s prime-time TV. If you bought that ad space on
the telly, it would cost you a fortune.”
The company — like several others, including the Dorchester hotel and
Floridita, a Cuban-themed restaurant, which were paid by talkbackThames to
host “treats” — is also mentioned on a website that accompanies the
programme.
Moët & Chandon and Argento said they were not approached about their
products appearing on the show.
The BBC and talkbackThames said in a joint statement: “There is no question of
product placement taking place on The Apprentice. The use of brands is
entirely editorially justified to highlight the desirability of the life the
successful candidate will enjoy.
“The Apprentice operates in a real world of successful business people,
aspiration and luxury, and viewers expect an authentic experience.
“Crucially, suppliers providing goods or services, whether at cost or not, are
not given any guarantees of usage, and their use is editorially justified in
line with BBC guidelines.”
BBC guidelines
— We must never include a product or service in sound or vision in return for
cash, services or any consideration in kind. This is product placement. It
is illegal.
— We need to reflect the real world and this will involve referring to
commercial products, organisations and services in our output.
— We must avoid any undue prominence or giving the impression that we
are promoting or endorsing products, organisations or services. n We must
ensure that references to trade names, brand names and slogans are clearly
editorially justified; not linger on brand names or logos and use verbal
references sparingly . . . not accept free or reduced-cost products or
services in return for on-air or online credits, hotlinks or off-air
marketing.
— We must ensure the use of, or reference to, branded products, services
or organisations . . . are clearly editorially justified and a wide range
are used over time to avoid undue prominence.
— We should normally ensure branding is not clearly visible and
close-ups are avoided when real products are used as set dressing . . . It
is normally difficult to justify a verbal reference in addition to the
visual one.
