Iceland’s banned Christmas advert was shown during primetime TV as This Morning’s Phillip Schofield said it was “right” to be broadcast.
The advert was banned by regulator ClearCast, who said the short film, called Rang-Tan, was “too political” and was therefore stopped from being broadcast.
The supermarket chose to share the advert on their social media channels, after which messages of support for their pro-environment message came flooding in.
Environmentalist Giles Clark said on This Morning: “I’m as at a loss as everybody else to see why it’s been banned.
“If there was to be a silver lining, the conversation is loud and clear and far reaching because of that move. Had it gone ahead as planned, it would have made some noise, but we’re talking about it more vigorously than we would before.”
He also said it was a “bold move” from the supermarket to show this, and they deserve “kudos” for their plans to cut out palm oil and single use plastic from their stores.
Writer Julia Bradbury said: “It’s a great shame… they’ve invested a lot of money in this advert…
“Actually what it is, is educational, and a lot of people don’t know how many products contain palm oil… it’s far reaching and wide and in a lot of products where it doesn’t need to be there.”
A spokesperson for Iceland explained, “The advert wasn’t approved by advertising regulators as it was seen to be in support of a political issue.
“The production and widespread usage of palm oil is a complex and sometimes controversial matter.
“However, it was never Iceland’s intention to use its Christmas advert to support a political campaign – rather to raise awareness and solidify our position on not using palm oil in food production.”
Mark Topps, a father-of-three, launched a petition to get it shown, telling the group: “I watched the advert with my daughter on Friday and I just didn’t see how it was political at all and it was a touching advert for me as well as children…
