BBC host John Humphrys in Unilever row

by Gemma Charles, marketingmagazine.co.uk 10-Mar-09, 08:30

LONDON - John Humphrys, the broadcaster, has criticised the use of footage of a debate he chaired to promote Unilever spreads.

The footage features on a website that supports ads for Unilever brands, including Flora, which promotes them as being low in saturated fat.

The site, at satfatnav.com, carries video of Humphrys chairing a Unilever-sponsored debate with panellists including the chairman of the Food Standards Agency, Dame Deirdre Hutton.

The Today presenter told Marketing: ‘I haven't given permission for my image to be used to promote Flora. God forbid! I chaired a debate some months ago, in return for a donation to my charity, on eating and obesity, but that's it.'

He pointed out that BBC rules bar him from promoting commercial products, adding: ‘I can't stand margarine. I'm a butter man, as you would expect from an ex-dairy farmer.'

Unilever said the unbranded site does not suggest any of the panellists are promoting Flora.