The fourth episode of the eighth season of the series Pastewka on Amazon Prime Video violates the prohibition of surreptitious advertising in the federal German broadcast law, according to Bavarian media authority BLM.
BLM has therefore banned provider Amazon Instant Video from continuing to show the episode entitled Das Lied von Hals und Nase (“The Song about Throat and Nose”) on its video-on-demand (VOD) service with immediate effect.
The entire episode is characterised by frequent and extensive presentations and mentions, especially with regard to the brand Media Markt, that can’t be dramaturgically justified by the plot, argues BLM.
Since Amazon Instant Video Germany GmbH is based in Bavaria, BLM is responsible for supervising compliance with advertising rules.
When approached by Broadband TV News, Amazon was unable to provide a statement as to whether the company would accept the media authority’s decision and remove the objected episode or take legal action against the ruling at this stage.
The award-winning series Pastewka was previously broadcast by commercial TV channel Sat.1. Amazon ordered new episodes from production company Brainpool as an original production for Amazon Prime Video in February 2017 and started showing them exclusively on its VOD service one year ago.
