UK food store, Iceland has created a moving advert targetting the use of palm oil and its effects on the Orangutan population. The advert has been banned…
Every year, all the big stores in the UK come out with adverts. They are highly anticipated, much like those that feature at the Superbowl in the USA. Iceland’s Christmas ad, which is focused on the impact of palm oil on the environment, has been banned from TV for breaching political ad rules.
The ad vetting body Clearcast pulled the ad for being “directed towards a political end” before it even hit TV screens. Iceland now wants to make it go viral online.
The animated advert shows a child in her room and an orphaned Orangutan jumping around ruining all her things. She asks him why he is there ruining all her things so he tells her how humans went into his forest, ripped it all down and killed his mother.
The story is heartbreaking and sadly a reality of what is happening in the world right now. It brings tears to our eyes. Having a massive retailer make this stand and remove palm oil from all their products is a step in the right direction. It adds to the many small voices and the noise becomes louder.
The company teamed up with Greenpeace to make the advert.
“We wanted [the Greenpeace film] to be our signature campaign. We have said repeatedly we are not anti-palm oil, we are anti-deforestation.
“We think this is a huge story that needs to be told. We always knew there was a risk but we gave it our best shot.” -Richard Walker, managing director for Iceland Food group
Did you know that South African retail tycoon Christo Wiese is a majority shareholder in the company?
You can watch the banned advert below.
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