• Sydney Morning-Herald , Monday, April 23, 2012 9:45 AM

Branded entertainment has arrived in Botany Bay. Australia's largest marketing group has set up a division to make TV shows for its advertising clients. STW Group, now making branded entertainment a core enterprise, has 70 companies and up to 1,000 clients, including Nestle, Westfield, Vodafone and St. George Bank. Under current regulations in the land of emus, kookaburras and Murdochs, a TV station does not have to disclose if an advertiser has funded a program.

Last month, the nation’s Channel Seven aired a documentary that was about and paid for by McDonald's but, because the station had not received any money for the program, it was not required to disclose the fact. Seven chose to make the disclosure voluntarily at the beginning of the program.

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