Call to Action and Non-Coms

[dbdigital]

Rather than get embroiled in the great Part-15 FM debate below or ruminate over why mlr's Part-15.us site was taken down, I thought I'd pass along an interesting conversation I had today with the president of our local PBS station.

Last Friday the station ran a commercial for Sav-on Drugs that, at the end, said "Use When Needed." To my mind this was a direct call to action to use that drug store chain and I wrote and told them as much.

The station president called me and told me that this call to action is legal because it is the drug store chain's slogan. "Our lawyers have been all through this and it is legal." As an example, I asked him, "What if Bob's Plumbing had as a slogan 'Bob's Plumbing, Better Than Adee' (a West Coast chain of plumbers), would it be legal even though it is a comparison with a competing service? Again he said yes if it is the company's registered slogan.

So the upshot of all this is that an LPFM or other non-com station can run a call to action or do a product comparison IF that call or comparison is part of the company's offical slogan.

Sounds to me like they're skating on thin ice, but then, interpreting FCC law is part of the fun of broadcasting.

db

 

[radiooke]

> Rather than get embroiled in the great Part-15 FM debate
> below or ruminate over why mlr's Part-15.us site was taken
> down, I thought I'd pass along an interesting conversation

Yes, it looked very ugly! You could see his/her work on Googles's cached page, but it was refreshed earlier and no longer visible.

 

[oldies1077]

I'll tell you exactly what happened to part15.us, it was hacked I'm sure mlr will restore it soon using backups.
<P ID="signature">______________
Oldies 1610 AM Stereo

"Proud User of Chris Cuff's Alfredo Lite 100mw"

http://www.part15.us
Largest Part 15 Website in the World</P>

 

[radiomike]

> The station president called me and told me that this call
> to action is legal because it is the drug store chain's
> slogan. "Our lawyers have been all through this and it is
> legal." As an example, I asked him, "What if Bob's Plumbing
> had as a slogan 'Bob's Plumbing, Better Than Adee' (a West
> Coast chain of plumbers), would it be legal even though it
> is a comparison with a competing service? Again he said yes
> if it is the company's registered slogan.
>
> So the upshot of all this is that an LPFM or other non-com
> station can run a call to action or do a product comparison
> IF that call or comparison is part of the company's offical
> slogan.
>
> Sounds to me like they're skating on thin ice, but then,
> interpreting FCC law is part of the fun of broadcasting.

This manager is wrong. "Use as Needed" is skating on thin ice, but pretty non-descdescript. I would not use it, but that is our policy. The example you stated for the plumber would NOT be legal, registered servicemark or not. Met Life's slogan "Get Met It Pays" was Not legal to use, even though it was registered. I would not use either. Then again, PBS and TV, unlike NPR and RADIO, is allowed to get away with a LOT MORE! I would not try it, as you are asking for trouble if you are an lpfm or noncommercial station.

 

[dbdigital]

> > The station president called me and told me that this call
>
> > to action is legal because it is the drug store chain's
> > slogan. "Our lawyers have been all through this and it is
> > legal." As an example, I asked him, "What if Bob's
> Plumbing
> > had as a slogan 'Bob's Plumbing, Better Than Adee' (a West
>
> > Coast chain of plumbers), would it be legal even though it
>
> > is a comparison with a competing service? Again he said
> yes
> > if it is the company's registered slogan.
> >
> > So the upshot of all this is that an LPFM or other non-com
>
> > station can run a call to action or do a product
> comparison
> > IF that call or comparison is part of the company's
> offical
> > slogan.
> >
> > Sounds to me like they're skating on thin ice, but then,
> > interpreting FCC law is part of the fun of broadcasting.
>
> This manager is wrong. "Use as Needed" is skating on thin
> ice, but pretty non-descdescript. I would not use it, but
> that is our policy. The example you stated for the plumber
> would NOT be legal, registered servicemark or not. Met
> Life's slogan "Get Met It Pays" was Not legal to use, even
> though it was registered. I would not use either. Then
> again, PBS and TV, unlike NPR and RADIO, is allowed to get
> away with a LOT MORE! I would not try it, as you are asking
> for trouble if you are an lpfm or noncommercial station.
>

This particular station, KCET, has been more daring (read: desperate for cash) then other PBS stations in the area for airing commercials (in fact, the other stations, KOCE and KLCS, don't). Most of the ads KCET shows are just regular commercials with the V.O. removed.

Hard to say if it's just a matter of clout, high-powered lawyers on retainer or what that has emboldened the station to do this. So far, they've gotten away with it and have done so for quite a while.

I would think the rules for non-com stations would be the same, radio or TV.


db

 

[radiomike]

> > I would think the rules for non-com stations would be the
> same, radio or TV.
> db
Here in lies the rub. TV has pictures and a lot can be said in a picture. Motion can be a call to action in itself. Public TV gets away with a lot. Radio has much stricter rules due to the language issue, and thus, why a picture or a a font that says Use as needed might fly, Someone saying "use as neded" may not. Go figure. Them's the rules. However, KCET is one of the stations that has run into FCC trouble in the past.