Iceland Christmas advert was not ‘banned’, says agency alleged to have banned it

Outcry over blocking of supermarket chain's commercial featuring Rang-tan the orangutan was based on 'misunderstanding', says Clearcast

An Iceland advert highlighting deforestation linked to palm oil production wasn’t banned, as the supermarket chain claimed, according to the agency alleged to have banned it.

Clearcast, which provides advice on ads before they are broadcast, said it had merely said Iceland’s Christmas commercial was likely to break broadcasting law because it was made by Greenpeace, a political organisation.

Responding to widespread criticism online, Clearcast’s managing director Chris Mundy said that his organisation does not have the power to ban adverts; only the Advertising Standards Authority can do that.

Iceland’s 90-second animation featuring an orangutan and narrated by Emma Thompson is on course to be the most watched Christmas advert ever.

It has already been viewed more than 30 million times since Iceland posted it on social media with a comment protesting the "ban".

Several celebrities then shared the video, including James Corden, who wrote to his more than 10 million followers: "This commercial was banned from TV for being too political. I think everyone should see it x”

Media organisations, including The Independent, then reported the outcry over the supposed ban.

Mr Mundy said Clearcast understood that the advert raised an important issue and but said the campaign it had generated was based on a misunderstanding.

“Much of what has been said has been based on a misunderstanding of the issue and we’ve seen a number of conspiracy theories about why the ad was not cleared," he said.

"The truth is that it is a matter of broadcasting law.”

The problem was that the film had appeared on Greenpeace’s website for a number of months. Therefore, in order for the content to be cleared for broadcast, Greenpeace would need to demonstrate that it is not a political advertiser, but it had not done so, Mr Mundy said.

He clarified that Clearcast and the broadcasters did not have concerns about the content of Iceland’s advert

“Unfortunately, much reporting of the story has wrongly suggested that this is the issue which has caused understandable confusion.”

The specific rule Clearcast and the broadcasters had considered was:

“An advertisement contravenes the prohibition on political advertising if it is: An advertisement which is inserted by or on behalf of a body whose objects are wholly or mainly of a political nature.”

A petition to show the advert on television had gathered 670,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.