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D2 Media Sales Advertising Policy

  • The D2 Media Advertising Guidelines ( “Guidelines” ) are intended to provide general guidance. They are not inclusive or exhaustive and are subject to change at D2 Media’s discretion, at any time.
  • D2 MEDIA reserves the right in its sole discretion to reject, remove, or require elimination or revision of any advertisement that does not comply with these Guidelines or any applicable third-party contract (including programmer contracts) or is otherwise unacceptable to D2 MEDIA in its sole discretion. Instead of rejecting an advertisement in its entirety, D2 MEDIA may, but is not required to, provide Agency/Advertiser/Programmer with a written explanation of its rejection so that Agency/Advertiser/Programmer may resolve any specifications and standards conflict. D2 MEDIA does not warrant to Agency/Advertiser/Programmer that advertisements or content of other customers will comply with such publishing standards and guidelines. Agency/Advertiser/Programmer will not represent to any third party that D2 MEDIA approves or endorses any such third party’s product and/or service.
  • The Agency/Advertiser/Programmer has the ultimate responsibility of complying with all legal requirements. The Agency/Advertiser/Programmer should be particularly diligent with claims made in a commercial, as all such claims must satisfy the FTC’s substantiation standards. Additionally, commercial “content” must be clearly and accurately presented as such to avoid any ambiguities and to avoid confusing the audience. Agency/Advertiser/Programmer are encouraged to consult with their professional advisors, regarding all applicable legal requirements.

I. GENERAL ADVERTISING GUIDELINES FOR DIGITAL & TV

All Advertising must comply in all respects with these Guidelines. All Advertising must also comply with the advertising guidelines and other restrictions of the programmers that license content to D2 MEDIA, as applicable. D2 MEDIA may run on the following platforms: DISH TV, DIRECTV, DIRECTV STREAM and SLING TV.

Advertising may not promote or contain any material that falls into the following categories or that links to such material:

  • Data driven advertising using certain demographic characteristics which, in the manner they are applied, could constitute unlawful discrimination on the basis of age, color, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disabilities.
  • Advertising, which is in whole or in part defamatory, obscene, indecent, profane, vulgar, repulsive, indecent, provocative, lewd, pornographic, offensive, either in theme or in treatment, or that contains strong sexual, prurient, explicit or erotic themes, for any promotion of products (including sex toys or paraphernalia), services, or programming.
  • Products or sites that suggest the availability of prostitution services.
  • Nudity, nude beaches or naked cruises or resorts and any club or bar featuring nude performers.
  • Products or sites depicting or providing how-to materials about pedophilia or other non- consensual contact.
  • Products or sites that advocate, glorify or promote rape, torture, cannibalism, suffering or death.
  • Excessive or graphic violence (e.g., cannot depict vivid blood scenes or show a person being shot, killed or stabbed or show a person pointing a gun at the audience/viewer depicting they may be shot).
  • Products that descramble cable or satellite signals in order to get freeservices.
  • Products that promote software or techniques that bypass copyright protections.
  • Counterfeit, fake or bootleg products or replicas or imitations of designer products.
  • False, unsubstantiated or unwarranted claims for any product or service, or testimonialsthat cannot be authenticated.
  • Pyramid or illegal multilevel marketing schemes.
  • Products or sites of questionable legality (e.g., miracle cures, witchcraft, fortune or good luck products).
  • Products or sites that appear to facilitate or promote the evasion of laws (e.g., radar detectors, etc.).
  • Products or sites that offer fake identification or falsified documentation.
  • Appeal for funds.
  • Topics that can appear controversial.
  • Contains any false or ambiguous statements or representations that may be misleading to the audience.
  • Promotes firearms, fireworks and ammunition (including by mail order).
  • Products, services or sites that have illegal gambling as a central theme (gambling legalized by a state(s) may be advertised to residents of that state(s).
  • Promotes services, contests or games that predict winners of races or sporting events where it is not legal.
  • Advertising that misrepresents orridicules on the basis of age, color, national origin,race,religion, sex, sexual orientation or disabilities.
  • Trivializes historic events such as the Holocaust, the Irish Famine or September 11th
  • Profanity or infers profane words or gestures; however D2 MEDIA, at its discretion, may accept advertisements with edited adult language.
  • Hate speech or defamatory, libelous or threatening sites.
  • Depicts, promotes or is designed to facilitate alcohol abuse, illegal or habit-forming drug use or use of tobacco, e-cigarettes, or marijuana products.
  • The misuse of Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) tone or graphic.
  • Content featuring the sale of drugs, pharmaceuticals, or drug paraphernalia that is illegal.

II. POLITICAL ADVERTISING GUIDELINES

All non-candidate political advertising will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In addition to our Guidelines for non-candidate advertisers D2 Media Sales reserves the right to review, request modifications to, or reject any advertisement at its sole discretion. However, such discretion will not be exercised with the intent to favor or disfavor any particular candidate or political party

All political advertising must comply with state and federal disclosure requirements and purchasers of political advertising are responsible for providing all necessary documentation for compliance.

A. UNACCEPTABLE NON-CANDIDATE ADVERTISEMENTS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

  • Ads that are libelous, defamatory or not in full compliance with the applicable law
  • Ads that contain hate, violent or racist rhetoric or symbols, or material reasonably expected to be offensive to “Publisher” users, without regard to ideological or partisan content.
  • Ads that utilize a “pop-up” or a “daughter screen.” Note: Ads utilizing unsolicited audio content must conform to existing “Publisher” advertising guidelines.

III. General-Advocacy

An advocacy advertisement, or issue ad, is any advertisement that advocates a political, religious or controversial public position. Advocacy advertisements may not necessarily advocate a particular party or candidate in their advertisements.

Examples of advocacy advertisements include AARP, Consumer Freedom, MoveOn.org

D2 MEDIA SALES accept advocacy advertisements on a case-by-case basis. D2 MEDIA SALES does not make judgments on an advertiser’s opinion, and we accept issue advertisements that express divergent points of view. Advertisements generally will be accepted if there is a reasonable basis in fact for the claims and such claims fall within the bounds of reasonable debate.

Content
  • Substantiation is required for any claims in the spot not considered opinion.
  • Substantiation may include newspaper articles or “neutral” websites such as NationalJournal.com, but substantiation taken from the website of the advocacy group itself must have confirmation of support from an independent source.

    Advertiser Identification

    • All commercials are required to have the following disclaimers, visible for at least four seconds, preferably at the end of the spot: “Paid for by X” or other clear identification of the advertiser name; and
    • If the advertiser is not well-known, a website with detailed information may be required.

IV. General—Attack Ads

Ads that attack or call out another party will be considered for D2 MEDIA SALES on a case-by-case basis. An advertisement may be rejected if it includes an attack of a personal nature that names private individuals or companies, or if it includes a comment on a private dispute. Example: “Did you know that Company A violates child labor practices? Paid for by Company B.”

Attack ads do not include the following:

  • Comparative ads, comparing the attributes of one product to another (e.g., Tide cleans better than Cheer).
  • Attorney ads with substantiated claims regarding injuries caused by certain products.

NOTABLY, ATTACK ADVERTISEMENTS DO NOT INCLUDE ADVERTISEMENTS THAT NEGATIVELY REFERENCE INDUSTRIES OR TRADE ASSOCIATIONS GENERALLY, AS THOSE ADS DO NOT SINGLE OUT AN INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATION OR PERSON (E.G., “NO SUCH THING AS CLEAN COAL”). WHILE THESE ADS MAY BE ACCEPTED FOR INDIVIDUAL AD BUYS, THEY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR SPONSORSHIPS, AS THE NEGATIVE MESSAGE SHOULD NOT BE SO CLOSELY ALIGNED WITH OUR PROGRAMMING.

ANY ADVERTISEMENT REFERENCING AN INDUSTRY, TRADE ASSOCIATION, OR OTHERWISE NEGATIVELY REFERENCING ANOTHER COMPANY OR INDIVIDUAL, INCLUDING POLITICAL AND COMPARATIVE ADS, SHOULD CLEARLY INDICATE THE NAME OF THE ADVERTISER.

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