Greenpeace's viral 'Rang-Tan' ad will be a children's book

Video by Mother London has had over 80 million views

Published On
Mar 04, 2019

Editor's Pick

"There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom," the anti-palm oil ad for Greenpeace (and subsequently, Iceland) that went viral last December, is becoming a children's picture book. 

The campaign, by Mother London, described a little girl finding an orangutan in her bedroom, eventually revealing that his habitat has been destroyed by deforestation to manufacture palm oil. It has received over 80 million views. It became even more popular when supermarket chain Iceland ran it as an "alternative" Christmas campaign, highlighting that it had not been allowed to air on British TV due to regulations about political advertising. Over one million people signed a petition to put the ad on TV, and as a result of the ad, the largest palm oil supplier, Wilmar, agreed to end deforestation in their supply chain, citing Greenpeace as a huge factor in the decision.

Hachette Children's Group is turning it into a children's story book, published on the Wren & Rock imprint in partnership with Greenpeace U.K. It will feature a foreword from Emma Thompson, who narrated the original film, and has been reimagined for a picture book audience with artwork by illustrator Frann Preston-Gannon. The book will publish in hardback in August 2019, ahead of World Orangutan Day, with the paperback following in May 2020.