Saturday, February 4th, 2012
According to health and education lobbyists, the UK government is ?rushing through? its product placement consultation period.
The aforementioned period is scheduled to last for just eight weeks and this has angered several lobbyists, including the National Union of Teachers, the National Heart Forum, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the Children’s Food Campaign. These groups insist that the period should be extended to three months and they say that the brief consultation breaches government guidelines.
A representative from the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport defended the government. The spokesperson said that the government already carried a 12-week consultation last year.
?We are satisfied that two months is sufficient to allow interested parties to respond fully,? she said.
However, Jackie Schneider?coordinator of the Children?s Food Campaign?insisted that the consultation was being rushed. She said, ?I’m not reassured by any protection proposals for children. Even though children’s programmes will be exempt, 70% of TV watched by children is outside of this.?
The government has assured the public that they are taking all the necessary precautions to making sure that the product placements do not promote bad examples (like unhealthy food, gambling, and alcohol).
Ben Bradshaw is taking the lead for the consultation. He says that the government is considering product placement, mainly for the broadcasters?who are suffering from the poor revenues during the recession.
Source: Marketing Magazine
