ASA Adjudication on British Sky Broadcasting Ltd

Ad

A wraparound ad feature, in thelondonpaper, for the TV Series Lost resembled the front page of a newspaper and featured a half-page picture of three men and a woman on their knees, bound and gagged. Text under the newspaper's masthead read "lost HOSTAGES FEAR CAPTORS' INTENTIONS". The headline, in larger, bold text, read "HOSTAGES OR SPECIMENS?". Small text at the bottom-left of the page said "KIDNAPPED Hurley, Jack, Sawyer and Kate". Further text on the bottom-right hand side of the page stated "LOST. SUN 19th NOV. 10PM ON SKY ONE". The inside page featured a number of mocked-up articles, written in a journalistic style, and pictures detailing a hostage situation played out in the first episode of a new series of Lost. Each article finished with the words "Continued on Sky One. Nov 19.". Text at the top of the page read "thenewstoday" and text immediately below continued "thelostnews 10pm Sunday Lost the brand new series begins on Sky One". The back page featured a picture of a beach and text that stated "LOST NOW FOUND ON SKY ONE". Text at the foot of the page continued "SUN 19TH NOV 10PM. BRAND NEW SERIES 3. SKY ONE". The inside double-page spread at the back of the paper showed the same image and featured the text "SUNDAY" in the middle of the page. Smaller text at the foot of the page stated "LOST. NEW SERIES. 10PM. SKY ONE."

Issue

Two complainants challenged whether the ad feature made sufficiently clear that it was advertising material.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Sky One (Sky) said series one and two of Lost had attracted a UK audience of more than six million and four million, respectively. They explained that the programme had attracted media attention since its launch and sent numerous press cuttings to show that. They added that Lost had also been in the media spotlight following Sky's recent acquisition of the broadcast rights for series three.

Sky pointed out that the wraparound featured four main characters from Lost and gave details of the upcoming storyline. They believed readers, including those who were not familiar with the programme, would understand from the presentation and content of the wraparound, as well as the inclusion of the Sky One logo and transmission details, that it was an ad promoting the new series, rather than editorial content. Sky thought that any confusion readers may have experienced about the mock article would have been dispelled when they turned to the second page and saw the real front page of thelondonpaper, as well as the subsequent two full-page ads for the new series of Lost appearing later in the paper.

Sky concluded by telling the ASA that the wraparound was part of a multimedia campaign, executed during November 2006, consisting of posters, press and radio ads to promote the new series. They said the poster and press ads used the same creative as the ads appearing on the back page and double-page spread of the ad feature. Sky believed that using the same creatives supported their argument that the wraparound would have been recognisable as advertising material and that it had not been necessary to expressly label it as an ad feature.

thelondonpaper said they believed the wraparound was clearly recognisable as an ad feature, rather than a news item, and had therefore not thought it necessary to include the heading "advertisement feature". They believed their readers were media savvy and able to distinguish between editorial and advertising content and pointed out that the exaggerated journalistic style of the articles would have made this clear. thelondonpaper said they had worked closely with Sky to ensure that the ad would not be mistaken for editorial content by using a presentation distinct from that of newspaper: they used different fonts, layout, design and mastheads and included the Sky One logo and transmission details throughout. thelondonpaper added that the newspaper was a free publication and therefore no readers could have been induced to buy it on account of the wraparound.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted Sky and thelondonpaper felt strongly that readers would have understood that the wraparound was an ad feature, because of the presentation and content of the ad, as well as the wider multimedia campaign to which they were likely to have been exposed. We acknowledged that some readers would have been fans of, or familiar with, Lost and that the wraparound included features that would have made it identifiable as advertising material to some readers. We nevertheless concluded that the popularity of, or some readers' familiarity with, the programme did not relieve Sky or thelondonpaper of their obligation to make clear that the wraparound was advertising, rather than editorial, content.

The ad feature breached CAP Code clause 23.2 (Ad features).

Action

We told Sky and thelondonpaper to ensure that ad features were readily recognisable.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)