Alpine skiing: Why Linus Straßer wasn’t allowed on ZDF with a bottle

The curtain was already closing, but the stage of this ski winter allowed itself an epilogue: the main role was the television journalist Amelie Stiefvatter, she had just moderated the final of the men’s slalom in Hafjell, Norway, said goodbye to the ZDF audience before explaining that an interview with the best German slalom skier Linus Straßer was planned at this point. “But he really wanted his bottle sponsor to be seen in the picture. Unfortunately, this is surreptitious advertising and is forbidden on public broadcasting,” Stiefvatter said into the camera. “Accordingly, the interview did not take place.”

The scene from Wednesday afternoon gives an idea of ​​the tricky situation that countless professional athletes find themselves in when they are not under contract with a football club. Ski racers, for example, are reminiscent of carving advertising columns; their racing suits, outer jackets, helmets and skis are literally overloaded with brand names. There is an economic dependency relationship. And so there are all sorts of agreements between the athletes and their sponsors regarding advertising placement. For example on live TV.

Sponsor stickers are therefore commonplace at winter sports events. But at least in Germany there are rules and limits. According to the State Broadcasting Treaty, advertising is considered inadmissible if manufacturer products are intentionally shown for advertising purposes. Actively holding an object such as a clearly printed bottle or beverage can into the camera can, at least in Germany, be viewed as prohibited product placement. Stepfather was aware of this dividing line, as she explained when asked by SZ on Thursday.

Straßer himself could not be reached on Thursday when contacted by the German Ski Association; he may already be on a well-deserved vacation. You don’t have to hold the bottle sponsor’s request against him in the long term. Rather, this matter shows that even the best in the scene are under a certain pressure to deliver to their sponsors. That the professionals hold their work equipment, including the prominently printed ski brand name, so close to their faces that the director cannot cut them out of the picture? This is part of it and is also legally justifiable in this country. Anyone who looked around the finish areas of this Alpine ski winter would have noticed that the trick with the bottle or can during TV interviews has now become established. Quite a few broadcasters, including ARD, ORF and SRF, accept this. The ARD, which, like ZDF, is subject to the State Broadcasting Treaty, is apparently less strict.

During a telephone conversation, Stiefvatter explains why she made this media dilution the topic of the last ski show of the season. Accordingly, the live scene arose from a previous history with Straßer. “He told me a long time ago that he would no longer come to my interview if he wasn’t allowed to show the bottle,” says Stiefvatter. The 33-year-old argued that all other broadcasters – such as ARD, ORF, SRF – would tolerate the drinking vessel and its sponsor. And that perimeter advertising is also shown in the football stadium.

After the Winter Games, says Stiefvatter, Straßer put his announcement into action: he refrained from doing interviews with Stiefvatter more often. “I was often asked why I didn’t have Linus Straßer in the interview, and that then fell back on me,” she says. “I had warned Linus that I would discuss this now because I think it will be difficult at the last race if he is not with us in the interview.” Straßer, for his part, called her that evening. In principle, their relationship is “very good,” said the journalist. The two exchanged ideas in an hour-long conversation on Wednesday evening.

Stiefvatter, 35, has been presenting ski races on ZDF for three years; she previously worked for an Austrian beverage manufacturer. “I came from the can,” she says. And yet she sticks to her stance. In the Austrian guidelines, sponsored bottles are allowed as advertising on TV, but not in this country. Others would adhere to it, says Stiefvatter. “Marco Odermatt and Lucas Braathen immediately put the can on the ground.” Straßer confirmed on Wednesday evening that he had his principles and was loyal to the sponsor. So, in a sense, two principles collide.