STRICTLY CRAIG IN BEEB AD ROW
Show’s star in breach of the rules after his catchphrase is used in campaign for beds
CRAIG Revel Horwood’s appearance in a commercial for a bed company that broke strict BBC rules has sparked controversy.
The Strictly star is in an advertising campaign for Dreams, which uses his show catchphrase, “fab-u-lous”.
Craig signed a money-spinning deal to become the face of the company’s range and appears in dance poses on beds.
A section on its Instagram feed showed a promotional picture of a blurred Craig cradling a log and said: “Log’s made a new fab-u-lous friend. Can you guess who it is?”
But BBC editorial guidelines state that any promotional work undertaken by its stars should not “mimic or replicate their on-air roles” for the corporation.
This “includes any iconic Strictly phrases being used for commercial associations”, such as fab-u-lous. After the BBC were alerted to the use of the word and the breach, the phrase was hastily deleted from the Instagram feed.
In the Dreams campaign, Craig critiqued his own “dance-inspired” sleeping positions for the firm’s Sleep Like a Log guide book.
In a series of shots, he is seen adopting a number of different poses – each relating to a separate genre – while lying down on a bed in sparkly pyjamas.
In one, Craig says: “The tango sleeping position is about creating some distance between your bodies, while remaining in the spooning position.”
Another advises: “Like the Charleston, this position is about keeping your body more streamlined, so you don’t spread out like a starfish and take up most of the bed.”
And in a third, he says: “Like the rumba, this position is about controlling your arms – so you can keep them away from an annoying Arm Number.”
We spoke to one Beeb worker – unrelated to the dance show – who said: “It appears on the face of it to be clearly mimicking his on-air Strictly role, in that he is offering advice as to how specific dances should be performed… just as he would be to any contestant appearing on the show.”
BBC sources last night accepted that Dreams’ use of fab-u-lous did breach the rules but said as soon as the error was identified, it was “amended and removed”. Craig’s spokesman insisted other parts of the campaign related to his work outside Strictly.
He said: “Craig is a professional dancer and choreographer and has been, long before his involvement in Strictly. He was asked to create these sleep positions for the campaign due to his profession and expertise as a choreographer and dance creator, a role he doesn’t have on Strictly.
“The dances identified are common dance terms and not unique or exclusive to Strictly.”
Nick Knowles was replaced for the Children in Need DIY SOS special after he featured in a Shreddies advert.
He played a builder helping a family, while describing himself as “Nick ‘get it done’ Knowles”.
It was found to be against BBC guidelines and he had to step back from the show as the ad was still running.
It appears on the face of it to be clearly mimicking his on-air Strictly role BBC WORKER ON CRAIG’S ROLE IN THE DREAMS CAMPAIGN