Despatches from a mother who started late (and is running to catch up)

Peppa knocks Labour election hopes

Peppa Pig has pulled out of a Labour Party election event, saying she wished to avoid any controversy. "It's all far, far too political for me to understand," the BBC quotes Business Secretary Lord Mandelson as saying.

Peppa was scheduled to join Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper and Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell on a visit to a children's centre. The event was intended to highlight Labour's policies to support families.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls described the pre-school character as a 'global media star, acclaimed around the world'.

But E1 Entertainment, which licenses the cartoon, said it wanted to avoid controversy and withdrew rights for the character's use.

When not bossing her family (Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and younger brother George), Peppa helps promote the Sure Start scheme. The programme provides government-funded children's services.

Children in 180 countries watch the much-loved porcine TV star. She generates £100m in retail revenue in the UK alone. She has sold 3m DVDs and 2m books.

Posted 27 April 2010 17:11

Domestic chaos

Comments

iota said:

It must be tough to be such a star, whose affiliations could sway a general election, and still be cartoon. She must know that if only she were real, she would be able to stand for Parliament herself and win a landslide victory.

Posted 27 April 2010 21:47

iota said:

I was trying to sponsor you, but the form won't allow an out-of-UK address for credit card donations. I think you should tell them - that's quite a limitation in the cyber era. Or could they at least add Paypal as a means of paying.

I can't even put a cheque in the post, as we've run out of cheques for our UK bank account. I wonder if you have a Paypal account. Or shall I just make a donation locally? It's all the same cause, at the end of the day.

Posted 27 April 2010 21:52