“Due to the unique way the BBC is funded” they are apparently not very happy with TomTom Top Gear Satnav.

The satnav in question features Jeremy Clarkson’s voice and also the Stig. The device had been greenlit by BBC’s commercial arm, but now the Worldwide service has come to play saying Calrkson and Top Gear are not allowed to endorse car-related products, due to some of the BBC’s editorial guidelines saying that presenters “must take particular care not to endorse any product or service which could be covered in the programmes on which they work”.

Come to think of it, Jeremy is not really endorsing the satnav, he’s just lending them his voice! But they are forced by the corporation’s editorial policy advisers to ditch the deal altogether.

Now TomTom is the one suffering the most from this “monumental cock-up” according to a BBC executive, as they’ve already produced 54,000 units of this £189 satnav. TomTom is not going to get the money they paid to BBC back by the looks of things, as they decided to donate all the money involved to BBC Children in Need.

This whole thing has been a waste of time for Jezza too, because he’s not going to get paid now that the deal is canceled.

Source: Telegraph