Ministry of Health advertising spending

Mike Readman filed an Official Information Act request a while ago seeking information from the Ministry of Health on its advertising spend in the recent past. The MoH has come through with the information.

The details as supplied by Mike:

In response to my OIA request, the Ministry of Health
and Quit Group (whose TV ads are funded by the MOH)
paid $3.6 million for TV ads from 1 July 2004 to 31
March 2005. The money was spent on the following:

- Like Minds, Like Mine campaign
- Second-hand smoke campaign
- Influenza immunisation promotion
- PHOs
- Menigococcal B vaccine campaign
- Hubba Hubba
- SunSmart promotion
- Smokefree Sport
- Smokefree Legislation implementation
and
- Quit Group: "About Whanau" and "every cigarette"
advertsing

Expenditure on TV ads forward-booked by MOH for May to
Aug is $1.6 million for the following campaigns:

- Like Minds, Like Mine
- Second-hand smoke
- World Smokefree Day promotion
- Influenza immusation promotion
and
- Menigococcal B vaccine

Seems like a lot of taxpayers' money being spent on TV
ads.

To be honest these amounts are less than I expected, but then Mike hasn't received (or asked for?) information from other Government departments.

I've recently noticed many ads during television commercial breaks are Government funded: ACC, Police, LTSA, Fire Service, MoH, Retirement Commissioner, Labour Party Working For Familes, Navy/Army/Air Force, ElectionsNZ (I'm sure there are more). These advertising campaigns must add up to a massive share of TVNZ's and TV3's yearly income. If Labour loses the election, will advertising-dependent media companies lose enough money to dent their profit margins? Is it in TVNZ's and CanWest's financial interest to provide Labour-friendly political coverage, or at least to avoid 'rocking the Labour boat'? After all its hard to imagine He Who Washes Dirty Underwear in the Hotel Handbasin encouraging continued spending on Government propaganda to organisations his Party has been careful to avoid.