September 13, 2005 12:26

Make Poverty History adverts banned by regulator

Bono won\'t be clicking his fingers on TV anymore

Photo Gallery: Kanye West

The series of Make Poverty History adverts featuring Bono, Kanye West and Justin Timberlake have been banned from television and radio.

The series of ‘click’ ads have been judged by media regulator Ofcom to constitute a political message, and are thus outlawed under the 2003 Communications Act , reports the Guardian.

The adverts feature a wide range of celebrities clicking their fingers every three seconds, to highlight how every three seconds a child dies from preventable poverty.

Make Poverty History campaigner and Oxfam spokesman Adrian Lovett was angry at Ofcom’s decision. He said: “This advertisement simply highlights the fact that a child dies every three seconds because of preventable poverty. The millions of people who are wearing a white band or taking action as part of this campaign don’t see it as a narrow party political issue. They see it as the greatest moral issue of our time.”

Ofcom were quick to emphasise that it had no powers to “differentiate between ‘good politics’ and ‘bad politics’,” merely to judge what was allowed under the terms of the law.