Iceland Brings Its 'Banned' Christmas Ad To London With Lonely Orangutan

Laura Reynolds
By Laura Reynolds Last edited 64 months ago

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Iceland Brings Its 'Banned' Christmas Ad To London With Lonely Orangutan
Photo: Joe Pepler/PinPep

Of all the Christmas ads this year, the offering by frozen food store Iceland isn't the one we expected to find ourselves writing about. But it's November 2018 and here we are.

The advert — which was blocked from appearing on TV as it's politically backed, earning it plenty of publicity — was brought to life in London this morning.

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A realistic animatronic orangutan was spotted climbing a 20ft high Christmas tree in Coin Street, South Bank, to highlight the threat to orangutans, caused by deforestation as a result of palm oil production.

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It was also spotted in other locations including the Millennium Bridge and Oxford Circus, interacting with the public, staring down bus drivers and drawing attention to itself — basically, highlighting the way in which orangutans and other wildlife are displaced from their natural habitat by the demand for palm oil.

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The banned advert — said to be "too political" — is an animation showing a 'Rang-Tan' invading a young girl's bedroom, ransacking her possessions. When she asks why he's in her room, he says it's because humans have invaded his forest.

While it's a stretch to call it a Christmas ad given its lack of festivities, hats off to Iceland for using its platform to highlight the issue of palm oil production, and for pledging to rid its own label products of palm oil by the end of the year.  And yes, getting the ad banned was probably a massive PR stunt, and this morning's orangutan antics are an extension of that, but given the nature of the topic, it's a PR stunt we can absolutely get on board with.

A petition to reverse the banning of the advert has 865,000 signatures at time of writing.

Photo: Joe Pepler/PinPep

The Iceland advert may not have officially been allowed to air, but we still reckon the much-hyped John Lewis Christmas ad will have a tough job to beat it when it's finally revealed.

Last Updated 14 November 2018