Iceland TV apes swing a viral hit after ‘ban’ on Christmas advert
‘It’s crazy that the ad was banned for being ‘too political’ because it shows ... how deforestation has brought orang-utans to the brink of extinction’
ICELAND’S “banned” Christmas advert could become the most popular ever by the end of the festive season, amid speculation that it will spark copycat campaigns.
Clearcast, which approves advertisements for television to make sure they comply with the law, said that “ban” is an emotive word which has caused the campaign to go viral.
The advertisement, “Rang-tan”, was not approved in its current form because it was made by Greenpeace, which is classed as a political organisation, and political advertising is not allowed on British television.
The emotive plea for British people to stop using palm oil has amassed more than 30million views across social media. The most popular Christmas advert on social media so far is the 2015 Sainsbury’s commercial featuring Mog the cat, which had more than 38 million views.
However, if the Iceland video, featuring an orang-utan voiced by Emma Thompson, continues to amass views at the current rate, it could easily beat this record by Christmas.
Clearcast, which regulates advertisements for Sky, Channel 4 and ITV, has warned that due to this popularity, advertisers could submit adverts which are likely to be ruled unfit for television in order to start a viral social media campaign around the “banning”.
The video has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on social media thanks to celebrities and campaigners.
James Corden, the talk show host, tweeted: “This commercial was banned from TV for being too political. I think everyone should see it x”. His tweet was shared more than 300,000 times.
Julia Bradbury, the ITV nature presenter, tweeted: “It’s crazy that the @ Icelandfoods ad was banned for being ‘too political’ because it shows how deforestation for palm oil, has brought orang-utans to the brink of extinction.”
Ralf Little, the actor, also implored his followers to retweet the video, tweeting: “Kudos to @Icelandfoods for taking the lead on this important climate issue – palm oil use killing 25 orang-utans per day. This advert banned on political grounds. Not sure who they think will be offended, so, feel free to retweet.”
More than 100,000 Twitter users have made separate posts, urging their followers to share the “banned” video.
Clearcast has hit back, arguing that it had not “banned” the advert, telling
The Daily Telegraph: “We’re not a regulator and do not ban ads, we work with advertisers to get them on air in line with the rules. The sticking point here is that the ad has been made by Greenpeace and potentially breaches the rule that prevents ads being ‘inserted by or on behalf of a body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature’. We have not received information from Iceland or Greenpeace that would enable us to establish this either way.”
Iceland referred to the move as a banning, and tweeted: “You won’t see our Christmas advert on TV this year, because it was banned. But we want to share Rangtan’s story with you… Will you help us share the story?” More than 90,000 people retweeted the post. Clearcast also said the “emotive” campaign around the alleged “banning” caused it to go viral, saying: “We do have a concern that some advertisers will see how this has generated publicity and use it as a marketing tactic.” The alleged “banning” has caused an outcry, with more than 700,000 people signing a Change.org petition imploring Clearcast to reverse the decision. Neil Hayes, Iceland’s marketing director, said: “It’s been fantastic to see the story being widely shared and an overwhelmingly positive response for what is a really important message. “We’ve been able to reach a huge number of customers without TV advertising, thanks to the level of support from campaigners, celebrities, the media and of course the public.”