- More on Eamonn Holmes’ promotion of pharma firm GSK’s “Understanding Shingles” campaign and associated website, understandingshingles.co.uk (see previous post).
- For the avoidance of doubt, neither GSK nor Mr Holmes’ management company responded to requests for comment.
- I have only just come across a relevant tweet from the TV presenter, that dated 23 September 2021 about shingles and GSK (screen shot in Figure 1).
- Mr Holmes, as you can see, labelled his tweet as an ad. Therefore, there is a commercial relationship between GSK and the star.
- Which brings me to one of the emails I received from Marian Nicholson, director of the Shingles Support Society (“SSS”), a subgroup of charity Herpes Viruses Association. There Ms Nicholson wrote: “I would suggest that anyone who’s had shingles – as Eamonn has, have you seen the photos? – will not need any financial incentive to help make people ‘shingles aware’!!!”.
- She finished: “You won’t find any £££ issues here!”
- SSS, by contrast, wasn’t paid by GSK to promote the pharma firm’s “Understanding Shingles” campaign and associated website, understandingshingles.co.uk.
- I went back to Ms Nicholson for comment, referring to Mr Holmes’ newly discovered tweet. Both to her and her organisation’s credit, she responded, if only to say in an email: “No comment. I have no insight into the workings of GSK or Eamonn Holmes…”
- It therefore appears that Mr Holmes, unlike SSS, wasn’t solely acting for the sake of others. He was a celebrity for hire.
- What’s more, the Daily Mirror newspaper omitted to disclose the commercial relationship between GSK and Mr Holmes.
Dr Alex May 