Ridding the world of the Iceland advert is ridding the world of the truth

One pointer that informs us that Christmas is near is the continuous displays of festive adverts shown on the television. For years, companies such as Sainsbury’s and John Lewis have been in competition to produce the most hard-hitting, tear-jerking and, emotion-wrenching advert.
This year, Iceland takes the trophy. The topic of the month has been Iceland’s orangutan advert which has been banned from airing on television. The advert tells the story a little girl who finds an orangutan in her bedroom, and proceeds to ask why it’s there. The orangutan provides the answer of: “There are humans in my forest…so I thought I’d stay with you”. This solemn line gives the little girl the idea of coming up with a plan to stop the orangutan’s forest being destroyed. The advert comes to an end with a dedication to the “25 orangutans we lose every day”. It’s a very lovely animated advert and a very clever way of addressing the issue of deforestation. The advert was created by Greenpeace, a charity who “defend the natural world and promote peace by investigating, exposing and confronting environmental abuse, and championing responsible solutions for our fragile environment”, proving that the intention of this advert was in no way harmful or the breaching of a political rulebook.
So why was this advert banned you ask?
According to Wired, it’s been deemed to breach political advertising rules. In simpler words, the advert is too political for TV. It can still be shown online and it definitely has been. There has been public outcry regarding the banning of this advert, and rightly so.
It’s important that we understand the background details into what Iceland are actually promoting.
Is there any way this could be false advertisement? Iceland state in their advert that they’re “removing palm oil from all our own label products”.  But how many of their products are actually theirs? Iceland aren’t as own branded as supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s. In fact, the majority of their products (if not all of them) are from other brands and companies. Therefore, by shopping at Iceland, you might not be boycotting palm oil products, but could actually be endorsing them. It’s funny how Iceland don’t mention this…
Despite the promotion of palm oil free products, Iceland are still more than prepared to sell products that are a result of abuse and torment. For example, Bernard Matthews Poultry is sold throughout Iceland’s chain, even with the growing negative reputation they have, including the utterly abysmal treatment of hens and chickens in closed cages. Iceland aren’t exactly getting off free and clear when it comes to the products they sell. Although some people may argue that Iceland are making a real effort to help the environment, others may feel that it’s all in vain considering they have bigger chicken to fry.
In terms of the advert itself, it has done wonders for Iceland’s company. For a decade, companies have been fighting for the most influential and memorable advert. We never tire of watching the Christmas adverts and choosing our favourite for the year. By having their advert banned, so much intrigue and interest has been peaked throughout audiences not just in the UK but globally too. Everyone, everywhere has a desire to see this advert and understand why it was banned – and if it should be banned online too.
So yes; maybe Iceland’s advert promotes something that they couldn’t actually put into practice themselves; maybe Iceland’s advert addresses issues that we are all too afraid to talk about; maybe Iceland intended to get their advert banned to receive publicity for their company, but there are several different motivations as meanings behind this advert, such as the supposed refusal of palm oil and the implicit promotion of Iceland’s company and products. That doesn’t mean it should be banned.
Iceland’s advert is just an advert. It’s not propaganda. It’s not being rammed down your throats – if anything you’re hearing of it more because it is banned – and it’s certainly not too political. It’s inspiring that a company has finally had the courage to put an advert like this in the public eye, and for that it should be broadcast on television along with the rest of 2018’s festive advertisements.