Sponsorowanie przez prowadzących działalność związaną z produktami (usługami) objętymi zakazem reklamy
Sponsorship by operators of products (services) subject to the advertising ban

Summary/Abstract: The advertising bans will cover all statements that are directly intended, in the perception of the average viewer, to promote the products (services) covered by the bans.Sponsorship is any participation in the financing of a specific event in order to promote oneself.Both advertising and sponsorship are tools for the advertiser (sponsor) to communicate with the same audience (“clientèle”). The difference lies in the different techniques of this communication, the forms (nature, content) of the statements that reach the recipient and the different time perspectives of the expected result (with sponsorship, the time to wait for the result is relatively longer).The advertising statement refers directly to the products (services) of the author of the statement. In contrast, in the case of sponsorship, the promoting statement refers directly to the identifying signs of the sponsor (name, company, trademark).The direct purpose of advertising is to promote the sale or other use of specific products (services) – in simple terms: to promote a specific product (service). In contrast, the direct purpose of sponsorship is to shape the image (positive perception, “good name”), opinion of the sponsor. The sponsor aims to get involved with specific audience (the so-called clientèle). Advertising is a statement by the advertiser, whereas in the case of sponsorship, we are dealing with a statement by the sponsored person (e.g. a radio or television broadcaster’s announcement].The ban on advertising certain products (services) cannot automatically imply a ban on sponsorship by entities whose activities relate to those products (services). A different position would run counter to the constitutional principle of economic freedom, which includes freedom of sponsorship.Bans on advertising of specific products (services) will apply to those instances (forms) of sponsorship activities that contain elements directly promoting those products (services). In contrast, sponsorships that do not contain such elements will not be covered by the above advertising bans – in line with the constitutional principle of economic freedom.The following forms of sponsorship, among others, should be considered unlawful:1) promoting the name (the so-called logo or other identifying sign) of the sponsor by verbal, pictorial communication of the fact of sponsorship, when this name coincides with a sign (e.g. a trademark) identifying an alcoholic beverage (or e.g. a medicine prescribed by a doctor, when the sponsorship takes place in the mass media, apart from specialised medical journals, or cigarettes, when the promotion is made, e.g. in the youth press);2) any reference, in a statement informing about the sponsor, to a product (e.g. by showing it) or identifying it if advertising of that product is prohibited in the place where the sponsorship message is placed (e.g. said medicine on TV, alcoholic beverage, etc.);3) informing about the origin of the product if there are circumstances (prejudicial to the unacceptability of the promotion, concerning its object, place, form, etc.) indicated in the above points;4) the affixing of signs on athletes’ jerseys, the so-called bands, and any other dissemination thereof, when the circumstances (prejudging the unacceptability of promotion) indicated in points 1 or 2 exist.The “broadcaster” within the meaning of Article 4(7) of the Broadcasting Act is the broadcaster of the sponsored programme (as there would be no basis for differentiating the meanings of the terms under consideration).The permissible content of the sponsor’s promotional statement should be limited to the dissemination of signs identifying the sponsor – which may, of course, coincide with the signs of its products (services) – while there should be no room for signs identifying only the product (service) and which do not directly fulfil the role of distinguishing the person of the sponsor.

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