Iceland, a supermarket chain based in the UK, has stirred up a bit of controversy surrounding its latest Christmas advertisement. Watchdog group Clearcast has had the animated commercial banned on the grounds that it is too political.

The cartoon ad starts out with a little girl trying to corral an orangutan in her room, one who suddenly appeared as she tries to understand why. Then things take a turn as he explains he has nowhere to go because humans have destroyed his home due to palm oil harvesting.

“There’s a human in my forest and I don’t know what to do. . .He took away my mother and I’m scared he’ll take me too.”

British actress Emma Thompson provides the narration for the Greenpeace-produced short film which highlights deforestation in Asia and the orangutan’s plight. The ad serves as an awareness campaign while also explaining that Iceland will be removing all store-brand products containing palm oil from its store shelves.

Clearcast is in charge of vetting ads before they air and has deemed it to be in violation of the 2003 Communications Act which bars certain politically-leaning advertisements. It can be viewed in its entirety by clicking on the link below.

Disappointed, Iceland has had to pivot and air short clips featuring palm oil-free products for the brand instead. The company hopes that shoppers will support their efforts to be more environmentally conscious.

Are you moved by this banned advertisement? What do you think of the ban? Did you know about palm oil?