Carphone Warehouse pulls Big Brother sponsorship

by Robin Parker, Media Week 18-Jan-07, 15:19

The Carphone Warehouse has suspended its sponsorship of Celebrity Big Brother with immediate effect to distance itself from the accusations of racist attitudes among the Channel 4 show's contestants.

The telecommunications firm severed ties with the latest series show today after the row over comments made by contestants Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd about fellow housemate, Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

Ofcom and Channel 4 have now received more than 30,000 complaints about the show and the debate has continued in Parliament and in protests in India.

Charles Dunstone, The Carphone Warehouse’s chief executive, said the behaviour in the house was “entirely at odds” with his company’s brand values and has told Channel 4 to remove its name and branding from the show.
He has yet to confirm whether the firm will sponsor any further series of Big Brother or its celebrity variant.
An eighth series of Big Brother is due to air this summer and Channel 4 recently committed to screen it until at least 2010.
The deal, in place since the fifth series of Big Brother in 2004, was The Carphone Warehouse’s first sponsorship of a TV show.