Greenpeace and the agency Mother created this animated ad about conservation for Iceland Foods, set to air the powerful piece this holiday season:

The ad is uncompromising in its efforts to convey the emotional punch of the effects of using palm oil in our products. Manifesting the tragedy in a child-like Orangutang looking for a new home with a little girl, we see a pledge to take care of the innocent things we harm by another innocent being. 


Given recent updates about how soon and how devastating our effects on the environment are (yikes), this ad seems increasingly pertinent. Yet, the Iceland foods spot was 'banned' by Clearcast for not quite complying with the British Communications Act of 2003, here are more details on that story from the USA Today.

But in this day and age, it's harder to control media and messaging, especially when the message packs a punch like this one.

"Rang-tan" has hit over 3 million views on YouTube, with tons of engagement on Twitter and Facebook. Celebrities and social media "influencers" have continued to repost the ad while singing its praises. 

This is the kind of exposure ads dream of. To top it off, there is a Change.org petition to get the ad on TV, with over 600,000 signatures and counting. 

Banning things often backfires. Just ask Michael Jordan and Nike... 

What's the big takeaway here, besides to stop using and buying products with palm oil? That the old routes for reaching viewers are not the be-all end-all. In fact, they are trailing newer methods like YouTube and social media. 

If you want eyes on your content, create great content with powerful messaging. The world is actually watching.