BSkyB has "launched a scathing attack on BT, telling its rival to stop complaining about being blocked from running its Premier League ads on Sky Sports channels and calling it a '£22bn gorilla in puppy's clothing,'" according to Mark Sweney of the London GUARDIAN. In the letter, BSkyB Corporate Affairs Dir Graham McWilliam said "BT's assertion earlier this week that it is 'happy to take Sky's advertising, but they seem afraid of taking ours' is wide of the mark." McWilliam: "BT advertises on Sky every month of the year and can promote its sports channels on all of our channels except Sky Sports. More pertinently, Sky is blacklisted by BT from advertising on the web portal aimed at its broadband customers." BSkyB said that "it is willing to run BT's multimillion-pound ad campaign promoting the launch of its sports channels, which includes promotion of its Premier League coverage, on its 100-plus other channels that it sells TV ad spots across." But the Sky Sports portfolio is out of bounds. McWilliam said, "This is perfectly reasonable given the billions that we have invested to build our brand." McWilliam added it would be like "Tesco being able to advertise inside Sainsbury's" if Sky were to allow BT to promote its Premier League coverage on its sports channels. McWilliam: "Before honing its soundbites or filing yet another complaint, this £22B ($33.75B) gorilla in puppy's clothing would do well to look at its own double standards" (GUARDIAN, 4/12).
