Channel 4 to defy ITV legal threats and broadcast Coronation Street Twitter claims
Channel 4 is set to defy ITV’s lawyers and proceed with the broadcast of an episode of Dispatches which alleges that stars of Coronation Street, the long-running soap, have been promoting bogus products in breach of marketing rules.
Fake Fans will be broadcast on the 5 August at 20:00 with covert footage of stars such as Brooke Vincent, who plays Sophie Webster, receiving beauty products from a fake cosmetics firm.
Some recipients of the gifts later went on to tweet about the products.
ITV has threatened to sue the station if it proceeds to broadcast any allegations of ‘unlawful marketing promotion’.
Dispatches set up a fictitious firm, Puttana Aziendale, which translates from Italian as ‘corporate whore’ to dupe various celebrities at a Manchester hotel.
In its official billing for the show Channel 4 said: “Celebrities have considerable influence on social media. But are some less than transparent when tweeting brand names with their legions of fans?
"Dispatches exposes the new tricks used by marketeers to plug brands, from buying fake Facebook 'likes' and YouTube 'views' to influencing social media conversations."