Supermarket Iceland’s Christmas Advertisement Banned For Being “Too Political”
Ad that raises awareness about the destruction of the orangutans habitat for palm oil production banned for being "too political." Is this a form of censorship? If an ad has intentions to protect the earth and its inhabitants, should that be considered "too political?" A commercial made for supermarket chain, Iceland, along with political activist group, Greenpeace aims to raise awareness about the destruction of the rainforest by palm oil growers. Clearcast, the company who screens broadcast advertisements has banned the ad on the grounds that it breaks the rules of being too political, according to the 2003 Communications Act. By now many of us know about the destructive nature of palm oil harvesting. As each year goes by about 6,000 orangutans are killed as a direct result of deforestation for palm oil. According to The Orangutan Project, every hour 300 football fields of precious remaining rain forest is bulldozed to the ground across South East Asia to make way for palm oil plantations.
The creation of palm oil is popular within the food industry because it is cheap oil that can be used in many processed food and personal care products. While the cost on the shelves might be cheap, the cost on wildlife and the environment isn’t, but it appears as though that isn’t the concern in society as we operate in a way where each individual or individual company is looking to capitalize on the market without considering the cost of our collective actions. Last year Iceland became the first major supermarket in the United Kingdom to announce their decision to remove palm oil from all of its own brand products. This is a significant step to take and will prove to be very attractive to the conscious consumer who is aware of the devastating effects of palm oil production. In regards to the advertisement and where it came from, Iceland’s founder Malcolm Walker said, “This was a film that Greenpeace made with a voice over by Emma Thompson. “We got permission to use it and take off the Greenpeace logo and use it as the Iceland Christmas ad. It would have blown the John Lewis ad out of the window. It was so emotional.” The watchdog said in a statement: “Clearcast and the broadcasters have to date been unable to clear this Iceland ad because we’re concerned that it doesn’t comply with the political rules of the BCAP code. “The creative submitted to us is linked to another organization who have not yet been able to demonstrate compliance in this area.” Check out the commercial below. While the advertisement is disturbing, isn’t it disturbing in the kind of way that may lead you to make a change, do some research and vote with your dollar? The fact that this ad is considered “too political” because it raises awareness towards a very important environmental issue is concerning. While we have numerous ads for toxic, carcinogenic foods and cleaning supplies yet there is no censorship for this sort of thing? Due to the pressure of mass censorship, we now have our own censorship-free, and ad-free on demand streaming network! It is the world's first and only conscious media network streaming mind-expanding interviews, news broadcasts, and conscious shows. Click here to start a FREE 7-Day Trial and watch 100's of hours of conscious media videos, that you won't see anyw.
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