Animatronic Orangutan scales Christmas tree for Iceland campaign
By Staff on Wednesday, November 14, 2018
This morning Londoners spotted what appeared to be an Orangutan clinging to a Christmas tree on London’s South bank.
The displaced ape was actually part of supermarket chain Iceland’s Christmas campaign, with the stunt being staged using sophisticated animatronics to highlight the retailer offering the choice of Christmas without palm oil.
The campaign was created and delivered by PR and creative agency Taylor Herring alongside the Iceland team.
The disruptive campaign follows the banning of Iceland’s Christmas advert last week.
SPOTTED! ??
An adult Orangutan has just scaled a 20ft Christmas tree on London’s South Bank #NoPalmOilChristmas pic.twitter.com/QjuBdTtZ8q
— Iceland Foods ❄ (@IcelandFoods) November 14, 2018
Are you on the lookout for a lonely Orangutan?
One is roaming the streets of London right now looking for a new home…#NoPalmOilChristmas pic.twitter.com/nGjbBUu3yo
— Iceland Foods ❄️ (@IcelandFoods) November 14, 2018
Further sightings were reported at locations across the capital including Oxford Street and the parks of London where the ape appeared to be in search of a new home.
A team of special effects artists spent months designing and building the ultra-realistic animatronic ape, which is controlled both remotely and via a specialist puppeteer.
The campaign has received mass public support after the supermarket chain’s Christmas advert was banned for being too political.
More than 12 million people have now watched the ad on Facebook, with it gaining the support of numerous high-profile figures including James Corden and Paloma Faith.
Iceland Managing Director Richard Walker said: “Our stranded, distressed Orangutan is a stark and potent symbol of the effects of deforestation. We always try to give people a real choice about what they buy and this was a key driver of our decision to allow Iceland customers to join us in saying ‘no to palm oil’.”
Iceland made the decision to demonstrate to the food and retail industries that it is possible to reduce the demand for palm oil by seeking alternative ingredient solutions.
