With advertising and sponsorship getting increasingly strong footholds in all aspects of life, we feel that the BBC has gone way over the top, to such an extent that something must be done about it.

The letter on the next page was sent by us to the BBC on 27/1/03, and was forwarded to BBC Scotland’s Office of Public Policy.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport told us that the BBC may not receive payment for advertising without the Secretary of State’s approval, but that the BBC believes that reference to branded products may be made “from time to time” to reflect the “real world”. Where such references do occur, they must be editorially justified and kept to a minimum and must not be promotional in nature.

If you did not watch this piece of television from BBC Scotland, I am sure that from our letter, you will clearly see that the programme was miles away from its own guidlines.

1) Mentioning the name of the sponsor every time the Scottish Cup is uttered (and the same goes for every other sport that is sponsored by alcohol manufacturers) is not editorially justified and is not kept to a minimum. The ordinary football fan (I am one) does not talk about the XYZ Premiership or the ABC Scottish Cup, but refers to the competition without saying the sponsor’s name, so why does everyone on television mention the sponsor? Are they told to? The answer is yes, they are. So much for not having adverts on the BBC.

2) Interviewing managers and players with a large advertising hoarding behind them also contravenes the BBC’s guidlines. Again, this is neither editorially justified, nor kept to a minimum, and most definitely is promotional in nature.

3) The inclusion of company logos during matches and beside results and league tables obviously contravenes the BBC guidlines once again, as references must not be promotional in nature. Showing a logo is definitely promotional - the alcohol companies spend a fortune on sponsorship, their logos shown on television must therefore result directly in increased business for them. I have even seen “Man of the Match” sponsored by alcohol companies. What does the BBC, or its employees, gain by doing this? There must be something.