BBC to plug Coca Cola

BBC TO PLUG COCA COLA

Global brand Coca Cola is to get weekly plugs on the BBC after signing a
multi-million pound sponsorship deal for the music charts today.
The fizzy drinks firm will get two mentions during the Radio 1 chart rundown
on Sunday evenings and will have further airtime on BBC1's Top Of The Pops and
Radio 2's album chart.
It is not the first time the charts have been sponsored, although the last
company to support them - Worldpop - ended its deal two years ago.
Coca Cola has signed a two-year deal with the Official UK Charts Company to
sponsor the singles and albums lists.
The deal comes into force in the New Year and the agreement will cover a new
download chart, which will be introduced in the near future.
The BBC, as a publicly-funded body, distances itself from advertising but will
mention the sponsor as part of its own deal with the chart company.
A Radio 1 spokesman said: "We are not involved in brokering the deal. That is
something the chart company does.
"We will reflect it in the same way as we do Renault sponsoring Prom In The
Park. It's not setting a precedent. Coca Cola will get two factual mentions to
stay within producer guidelines."
Coca Cola's deal with the chart used by the music industry comes just months
after rival firm Pepsi ended its sponsorship of the Commercial Network Chart,
now known as Hit 40 UK.
The Official UK Charts Company said it had been in negotiations with Coca Cola
for around four months.
However, a spokesman declined to comment on the value of the deal.
Coca Cola music spokesman Rafael McDonnell said: "This announcement is the
first in a number of exciting and ground-breaking music initiatives that Coca
Cola will be launching to consumers in 2004.
"The Official UK Charts are the benchmark for the UK music industry, and Coca
Cola is pleased to be working together with the whole of the industry to promote
sales of singles, albums and legal downloads

Uhm I'm not blaming you but BBC isn't allowed to make any commercial gain on their BBC branded channels in the UK.

Where's the source?

When it involves external companies then different regulations apply - the BBC can only try and arrange so that it is not direct promotion.

Isn't there something similar going on with Euro 2004/World Cup 2006 or some other football event...where they would have to mention a company 3 times during each match.

By the sounds of it, the BBC won't be gaining anything from it, just the company who the BBC gets its chart data from (who in effect will be using the BBc's output to make money for themselves, which isn't fair)...

Where it says the BBC will mention 'Coca Cola' WIt will probably be something in the context of 'You're listening to the Coca Cola Chart List UK) or words to that effect... nothing more than that I'd assume.

What is the source of this story?

It's exactly the same as mentioning something in the Barcley Card Premiereship - it's the name of that event because a sponsor has bought it out.

The BBC IS NOT gaining in any way financially from this...

More likely along the lines of you're listening to radio 1 and the uk top 40 chart supported by coca cola.

Much like the way they talk up the axa sponsered fa cup on motd. The key is to make it completely clear that the subject is sponsored, not the programme itself.

Source is: Anthony Barnes, Showbusiness Editor, PA News

How is this any different to the FA Barclaycard Premiership.

TV Mole, along with PA, making a mountain out of a mole hill ...

Ho ho ho

Of course its less promotion than was given a couple of years ago during certain European football matches where a full ITV style sponsorship video was played as part of the titles

Don't you think it would have been a good idea to include this information in your original post?

Firstly it would have given us all a chance to make up our minds about whether it was a valid story or not, and secondly it's not very fair on PA to use an entire story without attribution.

Yup, exactly the same thing they did when the charts were Worldpop sponsored.

There are issues here though, if Coca-Cola a multi-national giant can get free mentions on BBC TV & Radio every week, why would they need to spend money on advertising on commercial channels ?

Further signs of creeping commercialism into BBC output.