MORE than 800,000 people have signed a petition to overturn a ban on a Christmas TV advert deemed too political.

A huge public reaction has followed the news that supermarket Iceland, which has its headquarters in Deeside, has seen its Christmas advert blocked from TV screens for not complying with legislation on political advertising.

A petition was subsequently launched to overturn the decision, and now has 880,000 signatures nationwide.

The commercial, voiced by actress Emma Thompson and originally produced by Greenpeace, features a cartoon orangutan and highlights the plight of the rainforest.

Iceland tweeted: “You won’t see our Christmas advert on TV this year, because it was banned. But we want to share Rang-tan’s story with you… Will you help us share the story?”

The advert focuses on the impact of palm oil on deforestation, and follows the supermarket’s decision to remove the product from all its own-label food by the end of 2018.

Palm oil is product that can be found in everything from shampoos and detergents to sandwiches and biscuits. It’s one of the most environmentally-damaging industries, and each day 25 orangutans are killed through deforestation.

Mark Topps launched the petition, and he said: “Iceland released a Christmas advert today highlighting the devastation caused by palm oil products. It was a beautiful and important message. But the tv regulators have banned the advert, for being too political.

“As a father of three who thinks this ad would help educate people about how their products are killing orangutans and their homes, I feel banning this advert is an injustice.

“The body that stopped the advert being broadcasted, Clearcast, say that the ad breaches it’s political rules. The ad holds an important message - one that is emotional, touching and helps to spread a message about saving the environment and so must be broadcasted.’’

Greenpeace said the commercial was not originally intended for television, but neither they or Clearcast were able to immediately confirm whether it had been previously submitted for broadcast clearance.

The charity said it is unable advertise on television due to cost and difficulties with approval.