[Britian] Watchdog bans Make Poverty History ads

From Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Make Poverty History (MPH), hailed as one of the most effective lobbying campaigns ever with its simple message and signature white wrist band, was banned on Monday from television and radio advertising in Britain.

Advertising watchdog Ofcom said the goals of its campaign, including an array of stars clicking their fingers to ram home the message that a child dies of preventable poverty every three seconds, were political and therefore outlawed.

"We have reached the unavoidable conclusion that MPH is a body whose objects are 'wholly or mainly' political as defined under the Act. MPH is therefore prohibited from advertising on television or radio," Ofcom said on its Web site.

Make Poverty History, an amalgam of 530 charities and aid groups that is part of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, said it regretted the decision.

"The millions of people who are wearing a white band or taking action as part of a campaign do not see this as a narrow party-political issue. They see it as the great moral issue of our time," it said in a statement.

The organisation was created last year with the single goal of persuading the governments of the Group of Eight industrialised countries to write off billions of dollars in debt owed by the world's poorest countries.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown have both praised Make Poverty History as having been the deciding factor in convincing the G8 in June this year to agree to write off more than $40 billion (21 billion pounds) worth of debts.