by Playfuls Staff |
27th March 2006
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has begun an investigation meant to stop the large number of sales of its "Blue Peter" badges on eBay, which appeared as a result of the free entry promised to more than 100 attractions, such as Madame Tussauds, the Eden Project and Legoland. [more]
The badges illustrating the show's ship symbol come in five types and are rightfully awarded to young viewers who contribute to the BBC programmes.
"We know how hard children work to earn a badge, and we are doing our best to ensure that this long-standing Blue Peter institution is not undermined", explains BBC editor Richard Marson.
According to a BBC spokesman, investigations have been going on for months and a measure to verify if the badge belongs to its specific owner will soon be adopted.
"The BBC investigations unit has been monitoring eBay over the past few months and has noticed badges being sold in large numbers by individual sellers. eBay has agreed to take them down as they are obviously fake."
Some of the institutions on the free entry list, such as the Edinburgh Zoo, have stopped allowing free access based on the "Blue Peter" badges.
