A DEAL TO sell satnavs featuring the voice of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is being scrapped after it was discovered that the product is in breach of the BBC’s conflict of interest regulations.
Clarkson’s position as presenter on the BBC show means that he cannot be seen to endorse specific products, according to the corporation’s editorial policy advisers.
The company’s editorial policy states that presenters “must take particular care not to endorse any product or service which could be covered in the programmes on which they work”.
However, it seems that the problem was not spotted soon enough – about 54,000 limited edition TomTom systems featuring Clarkson’s voice have already been assembled and delivered to shops.
The BBC will now donate all proceeds from the units already sold to the charity Children in Need, according to The Guardian.
The Telegraph reports quotes a senior BBC executive, who remarked there had been a “monumental cock-up” by the BBC’s commercial arm, which failed to have the plans rubber-stamped by the editorial policy team before production began.
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