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Writer's pictureNick Saward

Week 6 Iceland's Rang-Tang #NoPalmOilChristmas

Christmas adverts are a staple of 21st Century Christmas. We all cherish these festive adverts as they bring comfort to our winter. One Christmas advert that opposes that tradition though is the Rang-Tang advert from Iceland. This advert highlights the impact of palm oil production on the environment, showing the facts. 25 Orangutangs die each day due to the deforestation of their homes as a result of palm oil production. Some described the advert as being too political according to the BBC. However, the animation made by the organization Greenpeace which tells the story of a orangutangs home being demolished as a result of palm oil production, and aims to stop a palm oil Christmas. Iceland joined the fight with Greenpeace and pulled all of its own palm oil products from its shelf that Christmas..

The cartoon takes a child like approach with a seemingly harmless poem. The ad then takes a dark turn by showing graphic videos of palm oil production destroying habitats. The cartoon look is almost a front to entice seemingly joyful viewers. However, when they proceed to the images, it uses the shock factor to convince people to become more aware of the products/ presents they buy this Christmas.

Is this advert though too graphic? In my opinion, no, the advert is filled to the brim ideologically and politically, and aims to contribute to change and Iceland targets the Christmas ad lovers to too contribute in the change. The hashtag #NoPalmOilChristmas became a phenomenon that Christmas. However, its ideological messages my have been too graphic for television. And indeed people thought it was as shortly after release it was taken of air due to the graphic nature of the advert. The regional manager for Iceland at the time replied saying he was "Absolutely Gutted". However, despite the fact the ad was taken of air, reuploads of the ad surfaced on sites such as YouTube or Instagram proving that Iceland's environmental drive had worked!

There is no doubt in saying that this advert was ideologically driven, however, there is also no doubt in saying that the advert was needed to open the eyes of the millions of consumers contributing to this global issue. And as a result of this advert, there is no doubt in saying that it truly helped the cause to stop palm oil.





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