The government has reacted angrily to accusations that it is using
taxpayers' money for "electioneering" after research found it had
overtaken BT and Procter & Gamble to become the UK's top-spending
advertiser in 2001.
Research conducted by AC Nielsen MMS exclusively for Marketing reveals
that government adspend soared by 38.5% last year to £143m,
catapulting the UK government to the top of the annual league table for
the first time.
The news reignited Conservative Party claims that Labour's obsession
with spin is resulting in the misuse of taxpayers' money.
"Is it any surprise that this record waste of public money on
advertising came in the same year as the general election?" a spokesman
for the Conservatives asked.
However, Downing Street denied that the figures represented a record UK
government spend, claiming that Tory governments had spent more "in real
terms" in the 80s.
"Are people seriously trying to say we shouldn't try to recruit more
nurses or police officers, deter drink-drivers and help people quit
smoking?" a Downing Street spokesman asked. "It is rubbish to suggest
that public money has been used for political purposes. The government
runs important public information campaigns, and there are strict rules
to ensure that is the case."
The £143m spend was put into dozens of campaigns, ranging from the
Department of Health's ads encouraging smokers to kick the habit to a
campaign for the 2001 Census.
The government outspent FMCG giant P&G by more than £20m. Only
three UK advertisers - P&G, BT and Ford - spent more than half the
government's outlay on ads in 2001. Full details of the top 100
advertisers will be published in Marketing on February 21.
TOP ADSPEND 2000 AND 2001
2001 2000 Advertiser Total (pounds) Last year
1 2 COI Communications 142,551,224 102,914,973
2 1 Procter & Gamble 114,232,164 120,962,284
3 3 British Telecom 91,794,411 102,101,208
4 5 Ford Motor Company 82,138,294 62,627,287
5 4 Renault UK 64,294,314 70,649,385
Source: AC Nielsen MMS
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