Pet Food Company To Fund TV Animal Rescue Series

A Pet food company has broken the boundaries of TV advertising in the UK by becoming the first company ever to fully fund a television programme - on the terrestrial channel ITV. Content of the forthcoming ITV1 factual series Dog Rescue, scheduled to air early Sunday evenings, is to be fully funded by a single advertiser, the Mars, Masterfoods pet foods brand Pedigree.

The Dog Rescue series will cover the activities of two animal re-homing centres, Manchester Dogs Home and The Dogs Trust centre in Harefield, West London. Despite concerns about moving a step closer to product placement in TV programming, the Pedigree brand will not be advertised during the show but it will appear at the beginning and end of commercial breaks.

This move by Pedigree is in support of its Pedigree Dog Adoption Drive campaign which was officially launched in the UK on 1st January, (see also: Pedigree Launches UK Dog Adoption Drive).





Pedigree’s brands will be advertised before and after commercial breaks on Dog Rescue, but not during the show. http://www.mars.com/global/Contact+Us/Media+contacts/ http://www.masterfoods.co.uk ### http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article3241169.ece Pedigree, the pet-food arm of Mars, has become the first company to fully fund a television programme on ITV in a move likely to preface widescale product placement on commercial television in Britain. Pedigree is to finance Dog Rescue, a factual series for ITV1. The commercial broadcaster is creating such shows amid expectations in the industry that the Government will give the go-ahead in the next 18 months to allow product placement on television. ITV said that it was in talks with 30 advertisers, from telecoms groups to retailers, to fund fully a range of productions, from dramas to documentaries and factual programmes. Although at present ITV and other commercial broadcasters allow businesses to sponsor shows, full funding of programming content is new for British television. Advertisers hope that, after a European Union directive on broadcasting issued late last year, pints of Boddingtons could be served in Coronation Street’s Rovers Return and Pepsi could be drunk in The X Factor. EU countries have been given the option of allowing product placement in most genres of commercial television, but not for news, sport, children’s programming and current affairs. Related Links ITV hires Sony executive for world-wide push Can Echo Beach save ITV? Product placement in company- funded shows is common in the United States, where shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition would not exist without the backing of Sears, the department store chain. The commercial content of such programmes was fertile satirical ground in the hit film The Truman Show. Pedigree’s brands will be advertised before and after commercial breaks on Dog Rescue, but not during the show. Critics said yesterday that programming funded by a single advertiser, even without product placement, runs the risk of “degrading the content”. Granville Williams, of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, said that a programme-maker’s judgment would be affected when an advertiser’s needs had to be considered. “A clear separation between programming and advertising has become blurred,” Mr Williams said. ### http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a87236/dog-rescue-to-be-funded-by-pedigree.html 'Dog Rescue' to be funded by Pedigree Thursday, January 24 2008, 09:58 GMT By James Welsh, International Editor Pedigree has signed up to fund ITV1's Dog Rescue. The new factual series will look at the work involved in animal rescue and pet re-homing at two of the UK's busiest animal re-homing centres, Manchester's Dog's Home and The Dog Trust in Harefield. "Pedigree believes that all dogs deserve a loving home, which is why we are really pleased to be working with ITV on Dog Rescue to support the Pedigree Adoption Drive Campaign," said Pedigree marketing manager Stephen Rendu. "Through the Adoption Drive campaign Pedigree wants to highlight and help reduce the number of dogs abandoned in the UK each year. ITV's content and programming strength will go along way to helping raise awareness around this issue, as well as support the fantastic work re-homing centres do across the UK to find all dogs a loving home." The show will be the first advertiser-funded programme to be developed and produced by ITV. "Dog Rescue is a great example of how to develop content with brands," said Samantha Wilson, ITV's client development director. "Not only does the series meet the high standards of ITV’s commissioners and has earned a great slot in schedule but it also does a fantastic job for Pedigree. That could not have happened without a close collaboration between client and media owner from the outset." Diana Howie, commissioning editor for features at ITV, added: "We have been looking for strong content in the world of animals for some time and I’m very excited that ITV Productions has come up with a strong and wonderfully engaging series that will appeal to our Sunday teatime audience. The fact we can also collaborate with a commercial partner on this project is the icing on the cake." #### http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=4&article=39631 ITV has first sniff at ad-funded series UK terrestrial ITV is making its first foray into advertiser-funded programming with a deal for a new ITV1 series called Dog Rescue, funded by Mars brand Pedigree. The factual series, developed by ITV's Samantha Wilson, client development director, and customer relations exec Ben Louis, aims to offer an insight into the work involved in animal rescue and pet re-homing and is set in two of the UK's busiest animal re-homing centres. As well as the TV show, additional content including bespoke video will be available online at ITV.com Dog Rescue will be produced by ITV Productions' daytime and lifestyle department and was commissioned for ITV by Diana Howie, commissioning editor for features. Wilson said: "Dog Rescue is a great example of how to develop content with brands. Not only does the series meet the high standards of ITV's commissioners and has earned a great slot in the schedule but it also does a fantastic job for Pedigree. That could not have happened without a close collaboration between client and media owner from the outset." 24 Jan 2008