Political Media- Iceland Advert

This year, Iceland released a Christmas advert that was viewed so political that it was unable to be shown on our televisions and the only way that it can be viewed is online. In just two weeks, the advert has been viewed 5.3 million times on Iceland's official YouTube channel.

The advert follows the simplistic animation of a girl with an orangutan in her room. Initially, the light-hearted, rhythmic voiceover gives the impression that the advert will be a warm-hearted story designed for children. However as the video carries on, it reveals that the orangutan is in her room due to deforestation, shocking the audience. The scene describing the deforestation is in black and white to portray a sense of sadness and evoke sympathy from the audience. Harsh imagery of forests being destroyed are used to maximise the impact on the viewers, getting the message clearly across.

Furthermore, the little girl is shown promising the orangutan to fight for the forests, which encourages the viewers to also join in and help save the rainforests. A use of statistics, 'dedicated to the 25 orangutans we lose every day' reveals the reality of the situation to the audience. Also a promise, 'until all palm oil causes zero rainforest destruction, we're removing palm oil from our own label products,' shows Iceland's dedication to this campaign and how much they care about this issue. This could possibly encourage individuals watching to make a change of their own, using the hashtag shown in the title #NoPalmOilChristmas, spreading the message of the advert even further.

Moreover, the animation was originally made for Greenpeace, however Iceland used it for their advert as part of their anti-palm oil movement. Clearcast did not approve the advert to be shown on television as it was, 'seen to be in support of a political issue'.

Despite the fact that the advert has not been televised, it has still reached millions of people and helped spread awareness of the issues surrounding palm oil production, which was Iceland's main intention upon releasing the advert.