'Make Poverty History' message banned in Britain

[arben]

LONDON (AFP) - The coalition at the forefront of a British campaign to fight poverty in Africa has been banned from advertising on radio and television after the nation's media watchdog decided it was a "political" organisation.

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Make Poverty History, a coalition of more than 500 charities and social groups, said Monday it was "disappointed" by the decision from OFCOM, just days before world leaders gather in New York where the plight of the world's poor is on the agenda of the World Summit at UN headquarters.

Its advertisement -- in which the likes of rock star Bono and model Claudia Schiffer snap their fingers every three seconds, symbolising how often a child dies as a result of poverty somewhere in the world -- has been on the air for several months.

Despite the fact that no one lodged a complaint, OFCOM said Make Poverty History was "wholly or mainly political" in that it sought to "achieve important changes" to British and Western government policy.

For that reason, it said, the advertisement can no longer be aired.

Adrian Lovett of the development charity Oxfam, a member of the Make Poverty History coordination team, said the global poverty issue was not "party political", but seen by millions as "the great moral issue of our time".

"We're disappointed with this decision," he said. "This advertisement simply highlights the fact that a child dies every three seconds because of preventable poverty."

Make Poverty History was behind a large peaceful march in Edinburgh in July that called for robust action on aid, trade and debt from the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations to combat endemic poverty in Africa.

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[Tommy]

Make Poverty History was behind a large peaceful march in Edinburgh in July that called for robust action on aid, trade and debt from the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations to combat endemic poverty in Africa.

Hmm a large peaceful march where anarchists and protesters clashed with riot police leading to over 350 arrests. Peaceful indeed.

In any case, like they said, the advert has been on the TV for a while now, so they’ve got their message across. It does seem a little funny to ban it now.

links 1, 2 and 3.

[bluelight]

:wtf: ignorant people

[AztecInca]

Its been on television for ages now, whats the point in banning it now??!?!?!

[Conspiracy]

Its been on television for ages now, whats the point in banning it now??!?!?!

842717[/snapback]

cuz they just got off thier behinds to do it