TV3 takes a coffee break – during the news

The festive season is often a bountiful time for advertisers, who deluge the electronic media with their ads. The current so-called “Deepa Raya” festivities have witnessed an advertisements extravaganza on television. A variety of advertisements religiously ‘accompany’ the musical shows, movies and news bulletins aired on television. Seems like this is the time for both advertisers and the television stations to be really merry.

But one form of advertisement that appreared on TV3’s ‘Buletin Utama’ borders on the unusual. Here, the line of demarcation between ads and the aired programmes has been consciously blurred. Towards the end of a news segment, the newscaster tells drivers on the highway to take a break to avoid unfortunate accidents on the road. How thoughtful! But wait...you get to see the TV station’s newscasters actually promoting a certain corporate brand: the drivers are actually advised to take a break from a long and tiring journey at participating Petronas petrol stations along the highway.

This advertising approach, which involves the collaboration of corporate players Petronas and Nestle, subtly tries to give viewers the impression that the newscasters themselves have endorsed the initiative. It may be acceptable for TV stations to air advertisements before, in between, and after a programme. But it is quite another thing for a TV station to try and give the impression that it is ‘natural’ to opt for a certain corporate product or service - without making it clear that it is actually a form of advertisement. In short, it borders on the unethical.

Contrast this with the way ntv7 showed the same coffee break ad, which was placed in between news items, without blurring the demarcating line between news and advertisements.