NRK sponsor ad for Kia in regulatory grey area, says media watchdog

Norway’s Media Authority has ruled that an NRK sponsor ad for Kia, shown during World Cup broadcasts, sits on the edge of what the regulations allow, according to industry paper Journalisten.

The ad in question features a car key, prompting NRK to ask the watchdog whether depicting part of a product counts as product placement. In its response, the Media Authority stated that sponsor identification may not include images of the sponsor’s product or service.

Senior adviser Lars Erik Krogsrud wrote that the key alone could not be defined as “the product,” but added that the design was problematic and lay in a grey area. The authority urged NRK to avoid similar cases in the future, as assessing how much of a product can be shown before breaking the rules could become difficult.

Journalisten noted that TV 2 received a 300,000 kroner fine last year for violating sponsor ad rules during its Tour de France coverage.