UK supermarket Iceland has advert banned for being too political

British supermarket chain Iceland has had its Christmas advert banned for being too political.

Rather than feel-good festive cheer, the retailer decided to make a statement about the destruction caused by palm oil with a cartoon about a homeless orangutan. 

Iceland managing director Richard Walker told the BBC he was “absolutely gutted” people wouldn’t be able to watch the ad, which was supported by Greenpeace, on TV.

“We wanted to share this message far and wide and underline Iceland’s commitment to remove palm oil from all of our products by the end of this year,” he said.

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The ad was banned by Clearcast, the body charged with badessing advertisements in the United Kingdom

The orangutan is now clbadified as critically endangered. One of the reasons for this is habitat loss in areas which are cleared to be farmed for palm oil.

In November 2017, Iceland announced it would be removing palm oil from all of its own-brand products by the end of 2018 (replacing it with other vegetable oils). The move was expected to cost the company around £5 million ($NZ9.6m).

“I do not believe such a thing as sustainable palm oil exists,” Walker said in April 2018.

According to Walker, 85 per cent of Iceland’s customers supported a decision to remove palm oil once informed about its effects on the environment.

The supermarket worked with Greenpeace on the video, and it was narrated by actress Emma Thompson. The endangered orangutan is called Rang-tan and the ad shows how palm oil production is destroying his home in the rainforest.

Walker tweeted that he wanted Iceland’s advertising to offer customers the choice to have an “no palm oil Christmas”.

Although people in Britain cannot watch the video on TV, it is still available to be viewed online and on social media.