ITV is not at all happy with Channel 4 at the moment, because hit investigative series Dispatches has made total fools of some of the Coronation Street girls by catching them out in a freebie sting.
Reports claim that one or two of the young ladies of Weatherfield have had a slap on the wrist for promoting too many free products on their Twitter accounts, so it's no surprise that Dispatches targeted them when setting out to investigate whether or not 'slebs were breaking Advertising Standards Authority guidelines. They're supposed to tell us if they've made deals to promote products y'see, and the programme alleges that the girls did just that.
As per The Sun, Catherine Tyldesley, Georgia May Foote and Brooke Vincent were among the actresses who showed up to a gifting event at one of Manchester's top hotels, blissfully unaware that one of the firms involved was fake: 'Puttana Aziendale' was actually set up by Dispatches especially for the episode. The girls were each given a Mistique spray (billed as an anti-ageing skin toner made using water from a mountain well in Bali) and an energising bracelet (supposedly crafted and blessed by monks), which they allegedly wasted no time in tweeting about after the event.
"Thank you to @aziendale for my lovely healing anklett!! :) xx" Vincent gushed online, while co-star Cherylee Houston (Izzie Armstrong) apparently joined in too: "Well I’ve slept in my bracelet and I’ve sprayed my face several times. Thank you so much I love them!" the newspaper claims she tweeted. And they weren't the only ones either with the likes of Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan) apparently falling for the ploy too.
ITV bosses are furious with Channel 4, and are willing to do anything to protect the stars of their beloved soap, whom they claim are totally innocent. "The programme has made allegations that are false and highly defamatory and we have written to the producer threatening legal action if they decide to broadcast" a spokeswoman told The Sun. "Cast members responded to tweets sent directly to them by some brands to say thank you. Contrary to the allegations which have been made, they didn't receive free gifts in return for tweeting or indulge in any kind of unlawful marketing promotion", the broadcaster later added.
Channel 4 didn't have any response, merely stating that it could not comment on upcoming episodes of Dispatches. We're finding it hard not to laugh at the whole thing to be honest, especially given the fact Puttana Aziendale is Italian for "corporate whore". 'Scarleh' for them.
