Bradshaw 'retreats' over product placement

A report by Denis Campbell in the Guardian yesterday says that, according to letters written by Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw to Cabinet colleagues, plans for liberalising the rules on product placement have been watered down.

"Following consultation with the Department of Health I propose to ban product placement in the following areas: alcoholic drinks, HFSS [high in fat, sugar or salt] food, gambling, smoking accessories, over-the-counter medicines and baby food," he said. Those restrictions go further than existing limitations on advertising cigarettes and medicines, for example, in print and broadcast media that are contained in both advertising industry codes and British and European laws. Companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's will not be able to promote many of their products in this way.