An RTE consumer programme accused of using a razor in "a wild slashing and dangerous manner" and of faking a scene in which a reporter cut himself has had a complaint against it upheld.
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission said Bic (Ireland) was right to complain of bias in the manner in which its single-blade razor was portrayed by the station.
The company had complained that a person demonstrating its razor on the Streetwise programme last March shaved in "a slashing and dangerous manner" in contrast to "the smooth, flowing strokes" used to demonstrate a Gillette product.
Bic said the programme-makers had resorted to "visual distortion and threatening music" to build tension for a scene in which the demonstrator cut himself on the upper lip.
The company said the lip had already been shaved and "was obviously re-soaped for the final close-up of the cutting sequence". It alleged the cut was staged.
"Overall this sequence was unbalanced, biased and obviously structured to damage the credibility of the Bic brand," the company said.
RTE agreed that the tester's face was re-lathered for filming purposes. However, the cut genuinely occurred. "A retake of the shaving stroke which had caused the cut was filmed. For reasons of safety it would not have been judicious for the tester to draw the blade over his already cut lip." RTE said the reference to "wild slashing strokes" was a subjective and partisan opinion of what was portrayed in the broadcast.
RTE said it had not set out to compare like with like. "The object of the survey was to assess the performance level of different products from different areas of the spectrum of shaving products available to the consumer."
It said the style of the piece was informal but "was valid in that it accurately and fairly reflected the tester's conclusions on the various products". The commission decided that the programme's presentation of the Bic razor was not objective and impartial and was contrary to Section 18 (1) of the Broadcasting Act, 1960.
