Germany: Prohibited product placement of biscuits in TV show (“jungle camp”)

• Autores: Ingo Beckendorf
• Localización: IRIS: Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory, ISSN-e 1023-8565, Nº. 5, 2016
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In a controversial scene lasting about ninety seconds in the RTL show “Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus” (Dschungelcamp) (I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here [Jungle Camp]), the show’s participants were given a metal box with a big packet of “Pick Up” chocolate biscuits manufactured by food manufacturer, Bahlsen. The participants opened the box, held the biscuits up in the air, and cheered. The programme then showed a close-up of the participants enjoying them. This was followed by the candidates praising the product at length in individual interviews (“jungle telephone”). The Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (Lower Saxony Media Authority) subsequently objected to the product placement as constituting prohibited surreptitious advertising. The media watchdogs cited the provisions of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (Interstate Broadcasting Agreement - RStV) as the reason for holding that view, according to which a product placement can under certain conditions be permissible in “light entertainment programmes” pursuant to section 44(1) RStV. However, a prerequisite for this is, according to section 7(7)(3) RStV, that the product is not given undue prominence. The TV station did not agree with the media authority’s assessment and took the case to the Hanover Administrative Court.