Learndirect will run break bumpers, as well as advertising at the beginning and end of the quiz show. The sponsorship runs for three months, from September to November.
The sponsorship has been slammed by a report in the Daily Mail, which calls it a waste of money. The Mail claims that £1m could fund nearly 60 new teachers or buy 1,000 computers. The Tory education spokesman, Damian Green, told the paper: "This is a colossal waste of a significant slice of Learndirect's budget."
Learndirect has previously sponsored ITV's This Morning and regularly advertises on television. The government has already come in for heavy criticism for being the biggest spender on advertising in the UK.
In March, Marketing broke the story on Brand Republic that the government had overtaken Procter & Gamble and BT to become the UK's biggest marketer, catapulting the Labour administration to the top of the annual advertising spend league table for the first time.
Figures released by ACNielsen MMS revealed that government adspend soared by 37.5% in 2001 to £143m (January to December), a record for any UK government.
In March, Learndirect announced a 9.5m-piece door-drop and insert campaign supporting its Skills for Life literacy and basic maths courses. Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters handles Learndirect's advertising, while Carlson Marketing Group handles the £2m direct marketing account. Media buying is through PHD.
The government created Learndirect in 2000, with the aim of educating 1m adults every year. It offers more than 500 courses including business skills, IT and retail training.
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