ABC Logie campaign criticised

The ABC is underfire for a promotional campaign for its Logie nominees.

A government senator has slammed as distasteful an ABC promotion that compares world poverty to its Gold Logie hopes.

One of the promotion’s ads, which aired last night, urged viewers to “change the world one step at a time” by voting for Andrew Denton, Adam Hills or Chris Lilley, who have all been nominated for a Gold Logie.

“By the time this ad is finished, 854 million people will go hungry, one billion people will live under the poverty line and three ABC stars will be without a Gold Logie,” the voice-over says.

“But you can change the world one step at a time. Vote for gold. Click on abc.net.au/tv and follow the links to shower the ABC in gold. Only you can make a difference.”

South Australian senator Simon Birmingham said many viewers were outraged and had complained about the ABC’s poor taste.

“While I accept that questions of taste can be complex, the outrage expressed by many ABC viewers at both the promotion’s content nature and its very purpose strongly suggests this is not something the ABC’s audience supports,” he said in a statement.

“I urge the ABC to immediately withdraw the promotion from airing and to review its editorial policies to clarify whether or not this type of promotion is acceptable.”

The ABC had received only 23 complaints since the ad was shown last night, an ABC spokeswoman said.

The network would not be withdrawing the ad, which is due to air again this weekend alongside music program Rage, she said. The “shocking statistics” clip was the most risky of the campaign’s three ads, and the ABC had carefully selected when it would be shown, she said.

“Humour is obviously a subjective thing, and we always planned to only have a limited run … in the context of younger people.”

The ad was aired last night because the network’s comedy line-up of shows including Spicks And Specks and The IT Crowd usually attracted a younger audience, she said.

The other two ads – one featuring The Chaser’s Chas Licciardello – would air at other times when a more “mainstream” audience was watching, she said.

This was the the first year the ABC had been able to spruik for its stars who were in contention for a Logie, the spokeswoman said. In previous years, viewers needed to purchase TV Week magazine to vote, but ABC policy prevented the network from directing viewers to a commercial venture, she said.

“Whereas now [with phone and SMS voting] it’s a level playing field, so it’s the first year we have been able to promote our stars.”

Source: The Age