US TV
Ofcom has said that the Fox News Channel was in breach of the programme code when the US cable channel ran an "advertisement" during a news show.
A segment on Fox News featured Susan Lucci, an actress who plays Erica Kane in All My Children, an American soap opera. The four-minute segment discussed Lucci's "Youthful Essence" range of beauty products, with "frequent references to the brand and a strap bearing the range's name," according to Ofcom.
Products from the range were displayed and demonstrated during the segment, with a parts of a promotional video also being aired. Lucci explained that the products can be bought through the web.
Ofcom says that Fox argued the following case:
"Fox pointed out that Susan Lucci is arguably the most well known soap actress in the United States. Ms Lucci has performed in soaps for 35 years and received her first Emmy after she was 50.
"Fox explained that Ms Lucci's touting her products was similar to segments seen on other networks where celebrities promoted movies, books, television programmes, CDs websites etc."
The regulator's rebuttal was that as Fox "advanced no editorial justification for this item beyond the fact that this was a new line of products by a well-known actress," the entire segment was "nothing more than an advertisement for Youthful Essence," thereby placing the channel in breach of the programme code.
A segment on Fox News featured Susan Lucci, an actress who plays Erica Kane in All My Children, an American soap opera. The four-minute segment discussed Lucci's "Youthful Essence" range of beauty products, with "frequent references to the brand and a strap bearing the range's name," according to Ofcom.
Products from the range were displayed and demonstrated during the segment, with a parts of a promotional video also being aired. Lucci explained that the products can be bought through the web.
Ofcom says that Fox argued the following case:
"Fox pointed out that Susan Lucci is arguably the most well known soap actress in the United States. Ms Lucci has performed in soaps for 35 years and received her first Emmy after she was 50.
"Fox explained that Ms Lucci's touting her products was similar to segments seen on other networks where celebrities promoted movies, books, television programmes, CDs websites etc."
The regulator's rebuttal was that as Fox "advanced no editorial justification for this item beyond the fact that this was a new line of products by a well-known actress," the entire segment was "nothing more than an advertisement for Youthful Essence," thereby placing the channel in breach of the programme code.
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