Bickmore grilled in Mac attack
Carrie Bickmore came under fire after it was acknowledged that her reference to McCafes was part of a sponsored segment for Oprah.
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TEN’s Carrie Bickmore came under fire yesterday after it was acknowledged that her reference to McCafes was actually part of a sponsored segment for Oprah.
Bickmore told Oprah Winfrey Aussies love to meet at McCafes during her hosting of a segment at the request of Winfrey.
“While there are a lot of differences, there is one comforting similarity,” Bickmore told the Big O. “While you have your diners, we have McCafes. Guys come for business meetings, girls come for a catch-up over coffee. It’s all just a little bit fancy.”
Yesterday The Australian confirmed McDonald’s had sponsored the segment:
The Australian asked the Ten Network and McDonald’s about the curious reference and they confirmed McDonald’s was a “broadcast sponsor and had a global arrangement directly with Harpo Productions for the in-program McCafe activity that appeared in Carrie’s segment”.
On Twitter Bickmore became the target of numerous gags and became one of Australia’s top topics:
“McScrew up? TV personality Carrie Bickmore has been labelled a sell-out after an Oprah segment said Aussies drink coffee at McDonalds.”
“Carrie Bickmore should take the criticism with a grain of salt…an all beef patty, mayo, pickles and a sesame seed bun.”
“Now americans think that we go to maccas in kangaroos to have coffee there. Thanks maccas and carrie bickmore.”
“I like Carrie Bickmore but admittedly, am disappointed by the shameless Macca’s plug. It’s not just her fault but Channel 10’s. All about $$”
The Drum said:
So it was that Channel Ten “current affairs” hostess Carrie Bickmore presented a special Aussie Countdown to introduce Australiana to 10 million viewing Americans last week. Coming from a woman who fulfils a weekday public role that is nominally journalistic, you might expect this to be an honest appraisal of Bickmore’s homeland prepared from the heart and with the deep knowledge of a country that only a native might bring. But that wouldn’t fit into the mould of modern infotainment.
The Age said:
Now it makes sense why Channel Ten’s Carrie Bickmore dropped the word ”McDonald’s” in her segment on Oprah’s Aussie Countdown, a TV special that was supposed to be about Aussie culture. The fast-food giant is a sponsor of Oprah’s Down Under roadshow, a handy fact revealed in Rupert’s Australian.
The Courier Mail quoted several Aussie coffee retailers:
“I was quite surprised. I don’t think it’s a very clear reflection of the Sydney coffee trend,” Aileen Young says. “It’s probably not showing Australian coffee culture in the right light … I don’t think it’s correct to say this is the way Australians drink coffee.”
TEN says Bickmore wasn’t paid to do the segment, but this really gets away from the point of discerning editorial versus advertorial. A McDonald’s logo did appear at the end of the show.
Bickmore’s reference was possibly at the instruction of a Producer, however it is also a measure of a journalist whether they are comfortable with their material or not.
Winfrey and two Qantas planes with American audiences are expected to touch down in Sydney this morning.
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- Tagged with The Oprah Winfrey Show
66 Responses
Sorry Carrie. I understand you have a job to do.
But, any credibility you had left in my eyes.
Gone.
If you think that is blatant, check out last nights ABC 2’s Colbert Report. He showed 2 clips from ‘Days Of Our Lives’, the product placement has been taken to a whole new level!
@ Catfan, I don’t know what you were watching to get the idea that Carrie is a Labour lover, she drooled all over Tony Abbott throughout the whole election campaign.
In her eyes he could do no wrong – another reason to question any and all of her motives.
I hate maccas!! so dam fake! rubber eggs, rubber cheese, cows bowls in burgers!! no thanks!
As an American I’m a little confused. You watch the segment and realize it must be advertising, but you are worried that we will believe that all Aussies hang out at Maccas. Please give us more credit. I’m sure there are some that won’t realize it was a commercial, but most of us are used to that kind of advertising, and recognize it as such.
We all understand sponsorship and advertising and all that stuff. I am just a bit embarrassed to be misrepresented on such a massive scale. Hopefully when the Oprah show visits some of our major cities they will showcase our real cafes and restaurants.
For all the people who are talking smack about Carrie Bickmore and that interview which featured a sponsors slogan, get over it. For starters Carrie is a broadcaster not a journalist she was just doing her job thats all. It did seem unorthodox to slip in a slogan from the sponsor but considering that Sydney had sold its sould to the devil than what she did was not that bad. If any other broadcaster or member of a media outlet was given the same chance no doubt that the same would have been done. I fully agree with your comment @ Janey sydney chose to put a huge O on the harbour bridge and renaming the Opera house the Oprah house which is a total suck up ploy hense Sydney have sold their soul to the Devil. Forgive me for being rude or un pc but do we really need loud mouthed rude americans in australia anyway. Thank god its only in sydney and no where else, and really she had no intention in coming over hear it was the cash and always will be the cash that get her to Australia. maybe if we used the same tactic for our world cup bid we would have done better.
Jon b says ‘Bickmore, who probably had the least say in all of this’. What is she a puppet? Does she have no say in what she does? Since when do journalists sell McDonald’s? Secondly, we all know Oprah deals in advertorials but that is just part of the issue, not least being ridiculous claims that we all spend our weekends at McDoanld’s. You might Jon but it makes us look like a nation of uncultured yobs.
I don’t think anyone minds a sponsor flogging their products as long as we’re informed. This was presented to the audience as program content not an advertorial. Bickmore is not blameless, as some are claiming. She knew what she was doing & if she had any journalistic integrity, she could have refused to make the comment. IMO, I think she has harmed her credibility.
i understand the sponsorship and product placement, but what i don’t agree with is how it was portrayed that Australia’s hang out at Maccas. now the yanks think we are All fast food junkies.
It’s probably a little rich to refer to Bickmore as a “journalist” – TV presenter might be a far more appropriate label.
However, one assumes that paid TV promotions are what she gets paid to do, it’s rather unfortunate that people around the world will come to associate a fast-food franchise as an “important part of Australian life” (tho I can’t remember the last time I paid a visit to a local franchise).
Yes, it was paid advertsing, however it was false advertising. To say “we meet at McCafes here” is just a blatant lie, and even if advertorial has been paid for, there are still laws against false advertising. All the outrage is over the falsity of the statement, not that it was paid for. If she’d said something that was true (like “I have a flutter at the TAB once a year on the Melbourne Cup”) as part of paid advertorial, there wouldn’t be this backlash.
Who is Carrie Bickmore 😕
Um, this is 10 we are talking about, what do you expect from that tacky little tinhouse station that sells children for ratings points?
John B, Carrie has now found fame via the 7pm Project, so it is all about that show, which was so very good up until about three months ago, when they decided we are all so good now, we will treat the viewer and guests with disdain
How ironic that after all the abuse on twitter saying she should eat a big mac or two, now people are complaining that she was in a maccas ad.
lol, i like this comment:
“Carrie Bickmore should take the criticism with a grain of salt…an all beef patty, mayo, pickles and a sesame seed bun.”
@Janey- Macca’s contribution was just a one off for the show. In a press release they’ve said that it “was a one-off segment negotiated by our global McDonald’s counterparts and McDonald’s Australia… This was a stand-alone opportunity and we are not involved in any other way in Oprah’s trip to Australia.”
Source: abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/06/3085975.htm
I guess if you’re getting one plug there is not much point in beating around the bush…
The segment (and particularly Bickmore’s involvement) , was quite shameful. It was intended as an ‘Australia 101’ style educative segment but went bizarre half way through (‘Business men meeting at a McCafe’ ???!! What the..?!).
The audience I was with all reacted negatively when viewing it live. Carrie (and 7pm Project/TEN) should take note. A whole load of her credibility just flew straight out the window…. I’m just glad it’s wasn’t Charlie doing the segment.
It’s not just the fact it was a paid advertorial style segment: it’s the fact that it was disguised as an educative ‘here’s how Aussie’s do it’ that doesn’t sit well with most. Disappointing.
Actually this is doubly annoying. Whaddya bet Ch Ten is celebrating all this free publicity. Watch as The 7pm Project’s ratings soar tonight as everyone tunes in to see what the fuss was about.
You can’t buy this sort of publicity.
@Tim – Hold your horses on the pavlova argument mate. Margaret Fulton is still up in arms, set to take the Oxford Dictionary to court I feel!
So many ignorant comments on here and on twitter. Firstly, this has nothing to do with 7pm project, it was a short puff piece on daytime tv show Oprah. If you’ve ever watched Oprah you’ll already know it is one big promotion machine. Every product they give to the audience is a paid advertisement. The only reason maccas was featured in carrie’s piece was so that they could tie it in to the audience giveaway. This had nothing to do with Carrie, it was probably a million dollar deal worked out between Maccas and Oprah, just like the ads for Motorola, Qantas, Perth, Keith Urban’s new album and Nicole Kiman’s new movie -all in the same show!
Secondly, this happened a week ago and no one cared because we understood it was a paid ad for daytime tv. A week later, obviously the people who are outraged are just jumping on the bandwagon and did not see the segment in context. The result is a lot of nasty words at Carrie Bickmore, who probably had the least say in all of this.
Well it seems alot of you guys don’t frequent “Macca’s” often. I admit, as a mum of two young girls, I do!!! Carrie’s “advertorial” was a bit tacky and obvious but the fact is it is a convenient place for people to meet – whether they be business people, families, students or kids. My question would be though: when was the last time Oprah had McDonalds for dinner.
Carrie is te most over rated presenter and interviewer on TV, I no longer was the &pm project , because of her inane comments and Charlie Pickerings absolute arrogance to any one who comes on .
Bickmore has No credibility after this. This advertorial is appaling and she should be ashamed. Sack her and pull the plug on that sham 7PM project rubbish that masquerades as current affairs. Their so-called ‘in-depth investigations’ are hilarious – they’re just vox pops.