Full transparency
Guest commentary The accusations against "the longest advertising program in Switzerland" (Tele) are completely unfounded, defendsNiklaus Schlienger.
Guest commentary The accusations against "the longest advertising program in Switzerland" (Tele) are completely unfounded, defendsNiklaus Schlienger.
Who is sneaking into the TV program at night and in the fog to encourage us to buy superfluous products? Particularly sinister fellows are at work here, controlled by greedy agents and their backers. They have been up to mischief at the German ARD subsidiary Bavaria for years without their clients in the editorial offices and management floors noticing a thing. And as soon as the affair was uncovered, the search was on for scandalously placed props here in Germany too. In the case of "Lüthi and Blanc", they really did find some with well-known brand names. Swiss television has never made a secret of the fact that it enters into partnerships for prop placement - even with "Lüthi und Blanc", right from the very first episode. No wonder, then, that Bakom only had "objections" to the fact that our partners are now only listed in the credits instead of - as previously - also in the opening credits. This is no longer a requirement under the new RTVA anyway. So why the fuss? Of course, mistrust of hidden advertising is justified. However, viewers hardly ever express any unease. After all, brands and advertising messages are part of our daily reality. Anyone depicting this reality, like any series set in the present day, cannot artificially hide the product world. The result would be an aseptic detachment from reality. If a scene involves eating chocolate, making a phone call or driving a car - the examples are fictitious! -a brand inevitably becomes visible, regardless of whether money is involved or not.
No one can seriously object to a television station making a virtue out of this necessity and thus generating program money that ultimately brings added value to the fee payer. The crucial question is who has the first and last word, the prop placer or the editorial team; whether something is told in order to create a platform for a product, or whether a placement is only checked and decided after the finished script is available. At SF DRS, a clever set-up prevents editorial desires from arising to fill the budget with placements: All sponsorship and placement income goes into a central pot located at the television directorate. And are reinvested from there in programs that could not be financed without this money.
So the prop placement in "Lüthi und Blanc" has nothing to do with surreptitious advertising. Because it is done with maximum transparency, and secondly because we don't think our viewers are as stupid as certain German production companies think their ARD clients are. Always assuming that they really didn't know anything.
Television.
> Niklaus Schlienger is head of the Soap editorial team at Schweizer
Who is sneaking into the TV program at night and in the fog to encourage us to buy superfluous products? Particularly sinister fellows are at work here, controlled by greedy agents and their backers. They have been up to mischief at the German ARD subsidiary Bavaria for years without their clients in the editorial offices and management floors noticing a thing. And as soon as the affair was uncovered, the search was on for scandalously placed props here in Germany too. In the case of "Lüthi and Blanc", they really did find some with well-known brand names. Swiss television has never made a secret of the fact that it enters into partnerships for prop placement - even with "Lüthi und Blanc", right from the very first episode. No wonder, then, that Bakom only had "objections" to the fact that our partners are now only listed in the credits instead of - as previously - also in the opening credits. This is no longer a requirement under the new RTVA anyway. So why the fuss? Of course, mistrust of hidden advertising is justified. However, viewers hardly ever express any unease. After all, brands and advertising messages are part of our daily reality. Anyone depicting this reality, like any series set in the present day, cannot artificially hide the product world. The result would be an aseptic detachment from reality. If a scene involves eating chocolate, making a phone call or driving a car - the examples are fictitious! -a brand inevitably becomes visible, regardless of whether money is involved or not.
No one can seriously object to a television station making a virtue out of this necessity and thus generating program money that ultimately brings added value to the fee payer. The crucial question is who has the first and last word, the prop placer or the editorial team; whether something is told in order to create a platform for a product, or whether a placement is only checked and decided after the finished script is available. At SF DRS, a clever set-up prevents editorial desires from arising to fill the budget with placements: All sponsorship and placement income goes into a central pot located at the television directorate. And are reinvested from there in programs that could not be financed without this money.
So the prop placement in "Lüthi und Blanc" has nothing to do with surreptitious advertising. Because it is done with maximum transparency, and secondly because we don't think our viewers are as stupid as certain German production companies think their ARD clients are. Always assuming that they really didn't know anything.
Television.
> Niklaus Schlienger is head of the Soap editorial team at Schweizer
