It will be forbidden to interrupt Lukashenka’s speeches with advertising
- 21.11.2007, 8:36
Beginning from tomorrow, commercial breaks on Belarusian TV will become shorter. According to a new law, Lukashenka’s speeches and translations of parades will be forbidden to be interrupted with commercials.
Commercial films shouldn’t take more than 20% of broadcast, for instance, it’s 5 hours for twenty-four-hour channel, “KP in Belarus” reports.
However, there weren’t many commercials in the morning, they all were shown in the evening, when time is more expensive. Watchers have complained they had time to make dinner, eat and wash up during a block of commercials... Now the advertising should take no more than 20 minutes an hour. But sport fans are lucky: the sport transmissions (even indirect!) can be interrupted with commercials only in half-times.
Beer and alcoholic beverage will have hard times. They will be banned for advertising since 7 in the morning till 8 in the evening on TV channels, as well as at airports, stations, underground, bus stops, exhibits and posters. Even for advertisements in permitted places, one will need to use fancy. From tomorrow, “images of human beings and animals, including animated ones” can’t be used in beer advertising. So, using an image of Cheburashka (he is not an animal, but a creation of the authors of the famous animated film) is possible, but the image of his friend Crocodile Gena can’t be used...
Tobacco advertising will be banned at all from January, 1, 2008.
What other restriction the new law has?
Speeches of president, prime minister, transmissions of the “house of representatives” sessions and other official events can’t be interrupted with commercials, even with roll captions.
• Sound volume of a commercial mustn’t exceed the average sound level of a programme.
• A commercial, which is longer than one minute, can’t be broadcasted twice an hour.
• Advertising of illegal drugs, pornography, and … infant milk formula is forbidden.
• Advertising, for example, posters can’t be placed in cabinets of the officials.
• Free spreading of alcoholic drinks (except for store demonstrations) and granting a prize of more than 5 litters of such drinks are forbidden.