Sensationalism & commercialisation of Environmentally conscious activism
Hovrall was a project satirising the Iceland banned anti-palm oil advert and online slacktivism. The topic of whether Palm Oil should be outright banned is controversial and credible sources with Orangutans best interests at heart have criticised the practicality of a palm oil boycott. These include:
• Ecosia
The main argument against a palm oil boycott is that Palm Oil has a higher yield per hectare than replacement vegetable crops meaning more land would be needed to produce the same amount of oil.
There are arguments that "this is a smoke-screen argument propagated by palm oil interests" by companies like Biome which recently launched the #palmoffpalmoil campaign on instagram.
I personally think it's extremely wishful thinking that palm oil won't be replaced by a lower yield crop when demand decreases and farmers will have to find other sources of income. However certifying sustainable palm oil is also a monumental task and a boycott may be most efficient after all in the short term. This coupled with distorted information from the palm oil industry and sensationalist environmental activism from companies who despite their hearts being in the right place are at the end of the day trying to sell a product (as with the Iceland and Biome cases) makes engaging the public in actual practical activism difficult. With all this conflicting information I am inclined to believe rational sources like those linked above but suffice to say, the issue is more nuanced than the Iceland advert makes it out to be.
This project does not have an answer to the Palm Oil monoculture problem but instead critiques impractical awareness campaigns and the commercialisation of environmental consciousness.
Sensationalist adverts sell, they succeed in raising awareness. Simplifying an issue to achieve this however, runs the risk of providing limited actionable information to the public and is (ironically) an unsustainable way of enacting lasting change.
Banned Hovrall advert
Honey bees are blamed for pollinating palm oil by the fake "woke" company Hovrall. They push for a 'sustainable' alternative honey made by Vulture bees using meat. Vulture bee honey is less sustainable as they produce far less honey than bog standard honey bees.
Hovrall claims that you too can save the planet and bees by buying their sustainable alternative honey and sharing the video for awareness.
A portmanteau of Hover and Bovril and appropriating a proudly vegan marmite jar as a model (despite marmite being owned by Unilever who have been caught up in controversy over animal testing), the product also satirises the outlandish claims Bovril used to make about its health giving properties.
The Ingredients list includes ingredients found in both honey and Bovril:
"90gProtein, Sugars 38% fructose, 31% glucose, 5% dextrin and 1.5-3% sucrose, 2gfat, malic, lactic, of sorrel, citric and tartaric acid, iron, phosphoric,magnesium, calcium, copper, sulfur, potassium, cobalt, germanium, gold, invertase,diastase, amylase, phosphatase, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, H, K, C , E, PPand provitamin A."
QR code
Links to the Youtube upload of the Hovrall advert when scanned.This was used in place of the barcode.
Hovrall at the UAL Summer show at 0:14 & 0:38.
