BBC1 Comic Relief

A major problem with the COW is it was difficult to adapt, so there were rarely any variations for special events. However, BBC1 wasted no time getting into the spirit of the first Red Nose Day fundraiser in 1988. Immediately after "Wogan" viewers saw a red nose being planted on Africa, and the BBC1 logo covered with a Comic Relief banner just before the evening telethon. The effect was achieved either through chroma key (which would involve a blue sphere rotating at an identical speed to the COW) or computer techniques.