Business

“Locally, the prices are very much linked to geopolitical instability, they’re linked to supply and demand at global level… and money markets, currency exchange rates, which again there’s no ability for people in Northern Ireland to control,” explained Smyth.

Disney subsidiary Twentieth Century Studios, which produced the film, said it was rated 12A, and the advertisement had been designed with that in mind. The company argued the brief and stylised nature of the scene meant the alien character or other imagery used would be unlikely to cause harm or offence.

A spokesman for the Co-op told the BBC: “Our culture, as a co-operative, ensured decision-making throughout has listened to views from leaders and colleagues across our food and wider business, whilst simultaneously acknowledging when a wide range of views are expressed, not everybody will always agree with the final decisions and actions taken.”

The vehicle manufacturer had said it was backing away from plans to make large EVs, citing lacklustre demand and recent regulatory changes under Trump. The business case for leaning heavily into EV production, specifically large-sized EV models, has “eroded”, the company had said.

The firm credited its expansion in users partly to audio e-books, though it did say: “The hard problems ahead – in music, in podcasts, in books, in video, in live, and in things we haven’t built yet – we’re going to keep building the technology to solve them.”