I BELIEVE the decision to ban Iceland’s Christmas advert from television is despicable.

As part of its Christmas campaign, the supermarket Iceland has teamed up with the environmental charity, Greenpeace, and has made a decision to remove palm oil from its own-labelled products by the end of this year.

The advert, created by Greenpeace and narrated by the actress Emma Thompson, features a cartoon orangutan, called Rang-utan.

It highlights the impact of palm oil and the destruction it brings to a rainforest, while the advert is also dedicated to “the 25 orangutans we lose every day.”

Clearcast, the organisation that banned the advert being broadcasted on television, said it was an attempt of political advertising.

Instead, Iceland has opted to share the video on social media, as it is not regulated in the same way.

The advert is an emotive, yet accurate, representation of what is happening to our rainforests around the world and the awful effect deforestation leaves behind.

The first time I watched the advert on social media it tugged on my heartstrings. It has actually made me realise what we, as society, are doing.

The video shows the devastating journey of Rang-utan being forced to escape her home, resulting in her hiding in a young girl’s bedroom as palm oil farmers destroy her habitat.

It begins with a light-hearted theme and then abruptly transforms to an unsettling, yet truthful, point of view of the damage we are causing. It portrays a powerful message, helps spread awareness and educates people on saving the environment.

Since Iceland has posted the video, it has received a huge response through the power of social media and now a petition has been launched for people to sign to bring the advert on to the television.

At the time of writing this, already 646,576 have signed the petition.

To ban an advert like this based on it being ‘too political’ is outrageous. How is it too political? That is what I would like to know.

It is merely stating facts that clearly organisations are not proud of owning up to. Instead, they are brushing off something important that is happening this very second and will eventually eradicate an entire population of orangutans in the near future.