Concerns over product placement in 'Apprentice'

Campaigning group, Media Watch, has asked the BBC Trust to investigate the inclusion of company names and products in The Apprentice, saying the show may have breached the corporation's guidelines.

The organisation's director John Beyer said he was concerned at the amount of product placement in each show, and says he believes it to be a compromise of the BBC's principles.

BBC guidelines say shows "need to reflect the real world and this will involve referring to commercial products, organisations and services", but also say that shows must not "linger on brand names or logos and use verbal references sparingly."

Car manufacturer Chrysler, health spa Champneys and retailer Pets at Home have all featured in the current series of the BBC Two programme.

The show's producer Talkback Thames said that the use of brands were "entirely editorially justified" and added that there was no question of product placement taking place and that "suppliers providing goods or services, whether at cost or not, are not given any guarantees of usage and their use is editorially justified in line with BBC rules."