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Nice one, Iceland 🙂
It's better than that shit awful Asda one that's on every bastard break.
edit, nevermind
Madness that this gets banned for being political.
Being too political seems vague for an advert like this - seems more a question of ethics?
Lovely. I must admit it affected a purchase I was about to make the other day. Can't remember what it was now but for some reason I looked at the ingredients and saw palm oil. I then thought that it was sugary crap that I was about to buy anyway so just went without.
That's what I thought, it's ethics not politics.
HTF is that political?
Hopefully the ban will just get it even more publicity.
Good work Iceland, though your food is mainly shit.
Powerful little advert.
<p>Beats the crap out of everyone losing their shit over another saccharine John Lewis ad.</p>
Prohibited because it's political lobbying, apparently. It's a rebadged Greenpeace advert.
I can't see anything overtly political about it myself, to be honest.
It was originally produced for Greenpeace
I think the banning has worked out well both for Iceland and for the message. Over 2M views on FB alone.
Win win for Iceland I think!
I guess it's political lobbying because one UK party is really strongly in favour of killing orangutans, or something.
Bloody outrage banning this as political, never been a fan of Iceland (shop, the countrys great except for the whale thing) but good on them for this.
Iceland is a great shop! Ethically they’ve always been loads better than most retailers - as a general rule they just don’t shout about it like some. It’s almost like they’re doing it just because, gosh they believe it’s the right thing to do...😂
How can that be banned for being political? As others have said it’s ethical for sure but why is that bad?
If it makes people think about the issues raised then surely that’s a good thing.
As Drac said it’s a powerful advert.
One of my first part time jobs was for Iceland through the last years of school and whilst at college (about 15 -20 years ago now)
They seemed like even back then they were keen to 'do the right thing', they paid well and were a good company to work for. All of their own brand stuff was organic (and a fuss wasn't made or a premium charged for it) which was a good few years before the other supermarkets got in on the act.
They also pioneered home delivery a good few years before the major supermarkets started doing it.
I think that during the Kerry Katona years and they suffered an image problem and unfortunately gained a reputation associated with Findus Crispy Pancakes and Turkey Twizzlers, but I think that there is a decent company underneath that.
Has the labeling law changed? Some products list palm oil but they can be sneaky and just list 'vegetable oil' which more often than not is actually palm oil..
I think the type of oil has to be named, like in some stuff you'll get 'vegetable oil/s' as an ingredient but in brackets they have the actual type of oil if there's more than one (rapeseed, sunflower, palm, whatever)
edit- looks like the law was changed in 2014 to increase transparency-
Madness that this gets banned for being political.
I suspect Iceland always knew it would be banned; but that was part of the strategy. Now "everyone" is talking about a banned Iceland advert and mentioning / talking about them and their values. Had it gone to TV - the Iceland mention is so subtle at the end it would have been lost/forgotten much more - and would have been referred to as the Palmoil or [O]rangatang advert. Top marks to the marketing department though for engineering such a success!
Iceland were the only supermarket chain not caught up in the horse meat scandal. They may not be everyone’s favourite supermarket, but quietly they try hard to do the right thing.
In that case this is the best bit of marketing they have ever done.
I used to associate them with Kerry and the 10p each sausages they used to sell me when I was skint,
now I'm planning to pop in Monday for some fish fingers just to show my appreciation.
A masterclass in going viral.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Its incredible how many things have it in once you start looking. A nutella sandhich might as well be made straight from dead apes it's go so much in.</span>
The full video has been ruled unacceptable for broadcast. But the full video was never going to be an advert anyway - it's too long, and doesn't fit an ad slot. Iceland only submitted it for vetting because they knew it wouldn't be accepted.
The only organisation that can ban adverts is the Advertising Standards Authority. But advertisers can pre-submit their ads to Clearcast for an adjudication on whether they are likely to run into problems. That's useful for advertisers, as it means they can get their advert checked over before committing money to an advertising campaign.
Clearcast judged that this one broke the rules on political advertising. But that's precisely what Iceland expected, and wanted. They wanted it to be rejected by Clearcast, so that they could say it had been banned, without actually spending money on booking ad slots for it.
But it's a bit disingenuous of them to claim it has been banned, when they knew from the start that it broke the rules and only submitted it to Clearcast so that they could get it rejected.
I saw this on FB, but can find no evidence whatsoever to back any of it up. Anyone able to point to a credible source to debunk it (or confirm it)?
The full video has been ruled unacceptable for broadcast. But the full video was never going to be an advert anyway – it’s too long, and doesn’t fit an ad slot.
It's 1:30. I've just looked at the John Lewis ads for 2015, 2016, 2017 on YouTube. They're all 2:10 long.
Long form ads are fairly normal now, and there will be various shorter cuts done too. I question the credibility of the original writer of that FB post.
Its incredible how many things have it in once you start looking. A nutella sandhich might as well be made straight from dead apes it’s go so much in.
My 7yr old had a bit of an existential dilemma when he found this out. Turns out they use good palm oil...
But the full video was never going to be an advert anyway – it’s too long, and doesn’t fit an ad slot.
It’s 1:30. I’ve just looked at the John Lewis ads for 2015, 2016, 2017 on YouTube. They’re all 2:10 long.
The length relative to the John Lewis advert doesn't help us. In terms of length what we need to know is the length of the youtube Iceland advert relative to the advert that was 'banned'. Did Iceland submit a Greenpeace film, which might have been political get the thumbs down for that, strip it down to 1:30 and release the shortened, non-political advert.
I'd also like to know who 'banned' the advert. If it was Clearcast, can they ban adverts, or are they a private company doing initial checks before submission?
I question the credibility of the original writer of that FB post.
I'm questioning the credibility of what they wrote. That's why I posted in the hope the hive-mind of STW might be able to debunk it or verify it.
It’s the only Christmas advert I’ve seen (and likely the only one I will see) so from a marketing view it’s worked.
Sadly jambo there’s really no such thing as ‘good’ or sustainable palm oil, it all needs some sort of deforestation
I’ve given up on most biscuits and Jaffa Cakes, it’s hard!
The full video has been ruled unacceptable for broadcast. But the full video was never going to be an advert anyway – it’s too long, and doesn’t fit an ad slot.
There’s been a very much longer ones over the years.
But the full video was never going to be an advert anyway – it’s too long, and doesn’t fit an ad slot.
There’s been a very much longer ones over the years.
I presume (perhaps wrongly) that 'full video' refers to the original Greenpeace video, not the advert which (I assume) is a subset of the original video.
But palm oil free peanut butter isn't just for Xmas! Discovering the ~£5 Meridian 1Kg tubs in Sainsburys before the massive price hike a few years ago was a revelation for me, these days I order in bulk from sites like MyProtein for ~£4.30 per tub when they have promo discounts.
But was quite impressed to find and buy a £5 WholeEarth tub in Birkenhead Lidl yesterday, should keep me going during a family visit. 😉
It’s true that they only submitted it to Clearcast and not to the ASA, so there’s a slight of hand going on here for marketing purposes.
Its also true that Iceland sell plenty of products that contain palm oil
They’ve been chatting about this on R5L this morning, full explanation of the political motives and funding and a rep from that “shop” stating they new it would probably be banned but felt the moral to produce it.
In the 30mins discussion something like 2m people watched it ..
The ironic stance I take is the “shop” advocates selling cheap poor grade food to millions, yet is happy to “support” ethically immoral production methods.
Still, every kid under the age of 12 should be forced to watch it, to n part to educate and in part to make them understand what thier parents have supported over the years..
Meridian nut and seed butter is ace. I agree it's difficult giving up biscuits and stuff but you do feel better for cutting out the crap. Have you seen how much crap's in nutella?
So Iceland - I've always associated it with low meat content crap sausages and hyper processed junk food sold for pennies - an even more low budget Asda.
Is is it a shop worth using? Do they sell remotely healthy / decent quality food?
Only place in Ireland to sell vimto so a thumbs up from me.
God, this website is terrible - prehistoric speeds to be able to type , late loading adverts mucking hyperlink choice and the predictive text is banjaxed.
I’ve given up on most biscuits and Jaffa Cakes, it’s hard!
You could learn to make your own alternatives. You'll know exactly what's in them and it's petty easy to make something decent.
More than 50% of european imported palm oil is in biofuels to help hit our fossil fuel reduction targets. If it wasn't palm oil it would be another type of vegetable oil, and it may well be the most efficient way to produce it. UK Forest monoculture is slowly becoming more diversified, I reckon developing countries are going through the same process. It is the developed world that is in control though. We are irresponsible self righteous hyper-mobile NIMBYS in Skoda octavias living too far away from where we work. 1% of us are taking the piss out of the rest.
We are irresponsible self righteous hyper-mobile NIMBYS in Skoda octavias living too far away from where we work.
Speak for yourself.
If it wasn’t palm oil it would be another type of vegetable oil, and it may well be the most efficient way to produce it.
I was thinking this earlier. It's not clear what kind of oil we're supposed to switch to, some kind of animal oil? Another veg oil? Whatever it is we're supposed to switch to, is it more efficient and therefore less demanding of land? If so why aren't manufacturers already using *that* oil? As you say the real story is there's too many of us consuming too much stuff. We're showing no sign of controlling our own population so nature will do it for us when food/energy runs out and we die of hunger, disease and in wars fighting over the remaining dregs of resources.
In the meantime the media are telling us advert was banned when it wasn't, and making a fortune out of it. The reason we have so much fake news is because people prefer it. Sane, balanced stories which stick to the truth just don't sell. 🙁
Out of interest I tried to avoid palm oil when doing a weekly shop earlier. So no biscuits, nothing with pastry (boo) and I was lucky to find a packet of tortilla wraps that didn’t have any.
"and there'll be no palm oil in Africa, this Christmas-time...... Do they know it's Christmas time at all"
It's one of those vile ingredients, like high fructose corn syrup, that when you really start looking, you see in every single thing, from chocolate to soap to shortening etc.
Corn tortillas from Asda don't have any palm oil in and are just as tasty 🙂
edit- Lidl's bakery ingredients are here-
if you like that stuff but want to check for palm oil.
I was thinking this earlier. It’s not clear what kind of oil we’re supposed to switch to, some kind of animal oil? Another veg oil? Whatever it is we’re supposed to switch to, is it more efficient and therefore less demanding of land? If so why aren’t manufacturers already using *that* oil?
I guess nobody has heard of sunflower oil or rapeseed oil, otherwise they might try using that...
Palm oil is solid at room temperature, one of the main reasons its used in biscuits or pastries etc. Not many other vegetable fats are.
I predict the resurgence of lard. Should go down well with brexit types as well.
Perhaps it was banned as a "Christmas" advert based on the fact ( as far as I can see ), that it's got FA to do with Christmas ?
I predict the resurgence of lard.
Nowt wrong with a bit of animal fat. No trans fat in them either.
I use beef dripping for yorkie's all the time.
https://www.clearcast.co.uk/press/iceland-advert/
Clearcast is not a regulator and we do not ban ads. The Iceland ad submitted to us is a Greenpeace film which has been appearing on the Greenpeace website for a number of months.
The specific rule Clearcast and the broadcasters have considered is:
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.
Clearcast’s concerns do not extend to the content or message of the ad.
Only skimming through but as the missus works in the food industry and with Iceland they are removing palm from their own brand products apart from where it's too expensive, at that point the food is under a 3rd party brand which is theirs and does contain palm.
Perhaps it is a touch more political than it 1st appears...
Hmmm...
Well at least it doesn't involve lucrative arms deals for BAE Systems, right?
Oh:
After her appearance at the cenotaph today, let's not forget Theresa May has a hand in all this:
And that HSBC and BAE Systems are heavily tied.
So, how come HSBC ended up sponsoring British Cycling anyhoo...
May have something to do with this too
It’s not clear what kind of oil we’re supposed to switch to, some kind of animal oil? Another veg oil? Whatever it is we’re supposed to switch to, is it more efficient and therefore less demanding of land? If so why aren’t manufacturers already using *that* oil?
Palm oil is up there for efficient land use, unfortunately it seems to be land that often already has a use for orangutans and the like.
I guess nobody has heard of sunflower oil or rapeseed oil, otherwise they might try using that…
Its not very efficient compared to palm and I suppose you could argue that the land this is grown on was once woodland habitat too, certainty in the UK and France. No easy answer.
Thanks Nickjb. Might have been better if the media and come up with that graphic on day one of this whole pointless frenzy.
^ Are you Philip May?
Has the labeling law changed? Some products list palm oil but they can be sneaky and just list ‘vegetable oil’ which more often than not is actually palm oil..
I support the charity Orangutan Appeal UK and at their suggestion a few years ago I wrote to my MP requesting that he support clear specific labelling of "Palm Oil" on ingredients lists instead of allowing it to just be hidden as "Vegetable Oils".
Unfortunately he was a Tory - so I got a lovely reply about it being an "unnecessary cost burden to business" and "letting the free market decide". 🙄
a Tory
I support the charity Orangutan Appeal UK and at their suggestion a few years ago I wrote to my MP requesting that he support clear specific labelling of “Palm Oil” on ingredients lists instead of allowing it to just be hidden as “Vegetable Oils”.
If Palm oil was labelled and people therefore bought less of it, wouldn't that result in people buying more of the alternative veg oils which consume over 4 times more habitat?
Nice thought provoking advert, but did I miss the Christmas link?
wouldn’t that result in people buying more of the alternative veg oils which consume over 4 times more habitat?
Four times more land use, maybe, but not habitat.
A look around UK fields suggests that rapeseed and sunflowers grow pretty well in places that are not currently rainforest habitats of critically endangered species. But I don't see many Oil Palms grown on farms here.
Four times more land use, maybe, but not habitat.
A look around UK fields suggests that rapeseed and sunflowers grow pretty well in places that are not currently rainforest habitats of critically endangered species. But I don’t see many Oil Palms grown on farms here.
Ok, so they want us to switch oil to use 4 times *more* land to grown veg oil, but that that land would not be in rainforests. Just out of interest where would the extra land be? (I assumed mankind was digging up forest to farm because that the only unused fertile land available to support increase food/bio-fuel demand.)
Also can you give some examples of land currently unused by man that will support growing of bio-oil that aren't "habitat" for anything.
The detail behind this campaign should have been spelled out on the Greenpeace website. They're obvious questions and I suspect the behaviour this is going to promote is going to be literally 4 times worse for the environment than what's currently happening.
Iceland's going to be coining it in though.
more a question of ethics?
The only way.
Luckily the ban has really raised the issue. I'd not have seen it if it had only been on the telly as I don't watch the commercial channels.
Four times more land use, maybe, but not habitat.
A look around UK fields suggests that rapeseed and sunflowers grow pretty well in places that are not currently rainforest habitats of critically endangered species. But I don’t see many Oil Palms grown on farms here.
But that land was once nice habitat, probably ancient woodland, full of now gone species. We chopped it all down to grow crops, made a lot of money, got our place at the big table. Now we are saying to other countries that they shouldn't do that. I agree that they shouldn't but it doesn't seem very fair. This is a global issue that needs a big solution and countries to work together.
I assumed mankind was digging up forest to farm because that the only unused fertile land available to support increase food/bio-fuel demand.
You think the only unused fertile land we have left in the world is Malaysian rainforest??
I don't think things are quite that desperate just yet.
Also can you give some examples of land currently unused by man that will support growing of bio-oil that aren’t “habitat” for anything.
Examples that aren't habitat for any life at all? No. Obviously not. Silly point.
The detail behind this campaign should have been spelled out on the Greenpeace website.
The campaign I was talking about had nothing to do with Greenpeace. It was from the Orangutan Appeal UK, which is linked to the Orangutan sanctuary at Sepilok which I visited.
I suspect the behaviour this is going to promote is going to be literally 4 times worse for the environment than what’s currently happening.
I suspect you are wrong, but trying to make some kind of point for some reason.
I'm assuming it is something about how treehugging liberal lefties are terribly naïve?
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: 1.3;">You think the only unused fertile land we have left in the world is Malaysian rainforest??</span>
Well yes, I assume people don't dig up forests if there's land that's just as good, but with no forest to clear. I'd love to be wrong, it would certainly ease my fears about the phosphates crisis.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: 1.3;">Examples that aren’t habitat for any life at all? No.</span>
Ok.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem; line-height: 1.3;">I suspect the behaviour this is going to promote is going to be literally 4 times worse for the environment than what’s currently happening.</span>
I suspect you are wrong,
Maybe, but I can't see how buying products that require 4 times more land will alleviate the problem of a scarcity of farmland resulting in a ton of forest getting dug up to create farmland.
This is a global issue that needs a big solution and countries to work together.
This. Mind you deep down we already know the answer, there has to be less of us.
there has to be less of us.
That I agree with.
But global genocide is such a loaded term. 😉
Maybe, but I can’t see how buying products that require 4 times more land will alleviate the problem of a scarcity of farmland resulting in a ton of forest getting dug up to create farmland.
How about just stopping buying the (non-essential) products? That seems like a fairly easy way to cut the 'demand'. I'm not suggesting living like a monk/nun/hermit (your choice) but cutting down on conspicuous consumption is better for everyone.
Once again, Thanos was right.
How about just stopping buying the (non-essential) products?
As someone mentioned earlier, it is actually quite hard to avoid palm oil (even if it is explicitly listed as an ingredient) because it is used in loads of stuff.
I'm sure there's an argument there for making everything from scratch with basic ingredients - but not everyone has the time, skill or inclination to make their own ice cream, chocolate, shampoo, breakfast cereal, crisps, soap, Jack Daniels, etc etc
there has to be less of us.That I agree with.
But global genocide is such a loaded term. 😉
Weird thing is, the targets of industrialized genocide tend to be in countries where there's far less wealth and thus consumption (albeit normally a wealth of natural resources to be exploited)
That would suggest either:
a) We need to reconsider where the (environmentally destructive) weapons are aimed
or alternatively,
b) Reduce consumption
As someone mentioned earlier, it is actually quite hard to avoid palm oil (even if it is explicitly listed as an ingredient) because it is used in loads of stuff.
I’m sure there’s an argument there for making everything from scratch with basic ingredients – but not everyone has the time, skill or inclination to make their own ice cream, chocolate, shampoo, breakfast cereal, crisps, soap, Jack Daniels, etc etc
Just reduce the amount of stuff you buy with it in, it's fairly easy to do. I appreciate that it's in loads of stuff, but most of this-
ice cream, chocolate, breakfast cereal, crisps, Jack Daniels, etc etc
isn't really essential, is it? It's pretty easy to buy food without it in, just look at the ingredients on the back before you chuck it in your trolley, plus any chocolate that's got palm oil in it probably isn't that nice anyway 🙂
just look at the ingredients on the back before you chuck it in your trolley
But as mentioned, it's not always obvious...
Or easy to avoid..
See, all of that stuff you just posted there is crap food from shitty businesses with questionable ethics. Why would you buy that stuff? It's easy to avoid if you don't buy shit food.
See, all of that stuff you just posted there is crap food from shitty businesses with questionable ethics.
Nestle are ****ing horrible. Selling baby formula in the 3rd World. A spot in the 9th Circle should be reserved for the people who do stuff like that.
I am guilty of buying Oxo cubes, owned by Mars I believe.
Also P&G shampoo and washing powder, as I think it's almost impossible to avoid them.
Buy very little in the way of processed food, no cereal, no ready meals etc. I find that stuff very easy to avoid.
I do buy peanuts and other nuts. Are they evil?
It’s easy to avoid if you don’t buy shit food.
What about the non-food stuff? Toothpaste, shampoo, soap, tampons, nappies, toilet paper, medicine, laundry detergent...
Honestly if you think it is easy to avoid then take that list of alternate names and have a look through the contents of your kitchen, bathroom and laundry cupboards at home. I think you'll be surprised.
I agree it's hard to buy non-food stuff without palm oil in it but it is possible to buy some stuff fairly easily-
shampoos-
toothpaste-
https://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/green-people/green-people-peppermint-toothpaste-50ml/
washing powders-
I've got nothing to do with that site by the way.
Putting a bit more thought into what we buy is worth trying, surely.
The list of products containing it and alternatives to be bought instead unfortunately misses the largest use of palm oil and less easy to quantify as it's not listed on the ingredients list; namely animal feed. If you are a meat eater or consume dairy that is your largest consumption of palm oil; your are just doing it 2nd hand.
How about just stopping buying the (non-essential) products? That seems like a fairly easy way to cut the ‘demand’.
100pc in agreement with that. (and I've lost 3 stone in 6 months and reducing veg oils must have contributed to that.)
...but where I do need veg oil it seems that palm oil is going to require about 1/4 of that land use relative to the alternatives. If people switch out palm oil we are going to require far more land, not less.
The list of products containing it and alternatives to be bought instead unfortunately misses the largest use of palm oil and less easy to quantify as it’s not listed on the ingredients list; namely animal feed.
Is there's more veg oil used in animal feed than in bio-fuel? If bio-fuel is over 50pc of our palm oil usage I can't see how there can be.
it is possible to buy some stuff fairly easily-
Well I'm not sure that most people would consider buying their every day essentials from an expensive specialist online-only ethical superstore to be "fairly easy".
But I applaud your effort if you do.