Advert banned for being unfair to corporate football

I'm not sure how this story didn't immediately come to my attention, but a friend pointed it out to me in an email yesterday, and it gives me the chance to mention Doctor Who, football, the media and the internet and get on my high horse at the same time, and I just can't pass up an opportunity like that to mark the start of the World Cup.

Eighth Doctor Paul McGann recently recorded a voiceover for a TV commercial which shows how a young boy in Malawi makes a football from string and plastic bags, and which compares the cost of sponsoring the child to the money spent on developing a special ball for the World Cup finals, and the £49m sponsorship of the England team.

BACC, an organisation which pre-vets adverts in the UK before they can be shown on TV, has decided that the advert cannot be shown - as it is 'unfair to football'. They objected to the way the advert "suggested that money spent in the development and sponsorship of football was wasted and they could see no good reason for singling out football in this way particularly given that footballers do a lot for charity."

In response Paul McGann is quoted as saying:

Does one laugh or cry? An advert describing how 60p a day might help a child in a developing country is pulled in order to spare the image of corporate sponsorship in a couple of rich ones.

He's also quoted as saying "You couldn't make it up", but I'll pretend he didn't because I'd rather ex-Doctor Who actors weren't going around pretending to be Richard Littlejohn.

Actually I wonder if the charity, World Vision, maybe always had half an eye on the advert getting pulled. It is much cheaper to stream it over the net to those that want to see it, and get publicity by stirring up outrage over the banning of it, than it would be to advertise between ITV's World Cup coverage. Add to that the fact that it isn't clear to me that any network would actually want the advert on their screens at the moment, seeing as nearly all their other clients are pushing adverts with a football related theme.

You can view the advert at World Vision from this page.

This is one of several posts on currybetdotnet to mention the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Is the BBC's World Cup blog the new Slashdot for football sites?
"You can only select 2 teams"
Guardian World Cup RSS woe
Advert banned for being unfair to corporate football
A history of the online World Cup
A history of the online World Cup - USA '94
A history of the online World Cup - the BBC's online coverage
Sloppy search on Yahoo!'s World Cup site
The Telegraph's David Bond on the impact of World Cup blogging
Has the World Cup strangled the web?
"What a school boy error" - audience responses to professional World Cup blogging
Which Coca-Cola billboards will be at today's matches?

You might also be interested in the 2006 World Cup category on 'A lemon tree of our own'

Posted by Martin Belam, June 9, 2006    
Read the latest posts about: Doctor Who, Football, Media
The views expressed on currybetdotnet are my own, and do not reflect the views of Guardian News and Media Limited, or any current or former clients or employers. Read my blogging principles
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