Sainsbury's Christmas Advert

[tillson]

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel that the Sainsbury's Christmas advert is inappropriate? I've been thinking about it for a day or so and the more I think about it, the more objectionable the concept becomes.

In essence, they [Sainsubury's] are trying to get us to buy their, "stuff" by romanticising and distorting one of, if not the most deadly conflict in history. What are we supposed to think? Are we supposed to look wistfully into the TV screen as the British soldier hands over his chocolate bar to the German and then hurry down to Saino's and gather up their ** like a voracious vacuum cleaner? The only way that this advert could get any worse would be for it to feature that preposterous mockney tw@t, Jamie Oliver.

I expect that Sainsbury's will be throwing a few meager crumbs in the direction of military charities. Perhaps this act has more to do with the easing of consciences than any meaningful donation to a worthy cause.

I hope that whoever created this absurd advert will one day relive the moment in eternal shame.

 

[Croxden]

Advertising agents, aren't they just wonderful?
On par with management consultants.

 

[Wicky]

The impromptu truce on Xmas day seems quite plausible from historical accounts

http://www.christmastruce.co.uk/article.html

Sure beats fluffy penguins...

 

[tillson]

The impromptu truce on Xmas day seems quite plausible from historical accounts

http://www.christmastruce.co.uk/article.html

Sure beats fluffy penguins...

The truce isn't in doubt, but is it right of Sainsbury's to use the war as an advertisement for their stuff.

 

[Wicky]

Wartime themes have cropped up before in advertising without such hallabaloo:

I've gotten more angry at the Church on Rememberance Day when they preach the continuing quaint notion that God supposedly supported 'our' side and our boys (forgeting the enemy prayed to the same God!) - which served as a nice means of ensuring conformity and 'selling' of a just war in the day of sending the kids as young as 14 years old into the meat grinder.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29986843

Heck the Sainsbury's ad showing both sides using their free will to stop killing each other, if only for a day should be celebrated rather than condemned.

 

[JohnCade]

I always liked the Ice Cold In Alex ad. But in the film the glass was labeled Carlsberg which made it easy for them. Product placement, like most things isn't new.

Haven't seen this Sainsbury one but there has been some comment about it. All advertising is derivative and exploitative. It's just the way it is.

 

[Emo Rider]

Wartime themes have cropped up before in advertising without such hallabaloo:

I've gotten more angry at the Church on Rememberance Day when they preach the continuing quaint notion that God supposedly supported 'our' side and our boys (forgeting the enemy prayed to the same God!) - which served as a nice means of ensuring conformity and 'selling' of a just war in the day of sending the kids as young as 14 years old into the meat grinder.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29986843

Heck the Sainsbury's ad showing both sides using their free will to stop killing each other, if only for a day should be celebrated rather than condemned.

Amen

 

[johnc461165]

It seems that the advert has worked one way or the other, one up for Sainsbury's.

 

[peerjay56]

Wartime themes have cropped up before in advertising without such hallabaloo:

All the adverts you cite are humorous, and make no attempt to make a moral or conscientious point. The Sainsbury's ad, on the other hand, is a sombre, thought provoking depiction of an event, which then cynically tries to subvert the emotional and 'conscience pricking' feelings the centenary of the First World War has generated, and use that to benefit Sainsbury's.
Crass commercialism of the worst kind, IMHO.
And if anyone doesn't think it is, can you honestly tell me that when you first saw the advert, you weren't disappointed/appalled/baffled that such a thought provoking and crafted piece was just an ad for Sainsbury's?

 

[Emo Rider]

It seems that like everything that happens in life is going to generate different takes from different people. All are entitled to their opinion. Here is our take on "the commercial".

I was half paying attention to the television when the strains of Silent Night made me look up at the screen. I shot a quick glance at my wife who was fixed on the unfolding story. When it was over we both had tears in our eyes. When we regained our composure, we discussed what we had just seen. The words "disappointed/appalled/baffled" did not enter the conversation. I was very impressed by Sainsbury's very minimal presence at the very end and the credit given the the involvement of the British Royal Legion (a fact not acknowledged in this thread until now).

We thought it was excellent. It had a story that needed to be retold and needs to be retold over and over again. Yes it was a Christmas ad. And yes, there has been many a Christmas ad over the years that have left me "disappointed/appalled/baffled", this was not one of them.

To us it was a true story of peace on earth and good will toward man in even the most horriffic of time or place. It sent a powerful message of hope. A hope that one day enemies will find themselves shaking hands on a battle field again.

 

[Wicky]

Funnily enough Warhorse the movie set in WW1 was on last night - which was made ultimately to a make a profit for investors - So should that be included as something to be condemed (or any commercial film with a wartime theme) for "Crass commercialism"...

Same for the The National Theatre's production of Warhorse which last heard was making a £3m-a-year profit.

 

[Nealh]

Seen the ad for the first time today and it isn't till the end that you know it is for Sainsbury's and the advertising is very subtle, It certainly made me sit up and watch it. Visually I found it to be poignent and thoughtful and a reminder of the sacrifice so many made in which I feel was total travesty for all the men and the animals on both sides. The fact that the RBL has endorsed it suggests to me that Sainsbury's have probably made a donation to them of some kind.

 

[timidtom]

I'm more concerned about the way priests have assumed that the memorial meetings are to be controlled by them. One expects commercial concerns to milk any opportunity to make cash.

 

[flecc]

The Sainsbury's ad, on the other hand, is a sombre, thought provoking depiction of an event, which then cynically tries to subvert the emotional and 'conscience pricking' feelings the centenary of the First World War has generated, and use that to benefit Sainsbury's.

Apparently not, the whole of the profits on the advertised product are going to the Royal British Legion.

On BBC Radio 4 tonight at 8pm, the program "The Moral Maze" will be a discussion on the ethics of this and other such advertising. If that is not convenient, it can be listened to on the BBC i-player shortly after the broadcast during the next two years on this link
.

 

[Wicky]

...Sainsbury’s has been accused of exploiting emotions over a conflict in which millions died in order to boost sales. More than 700 people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority before the watchdog ruled on November 27 that it would not be investigating the promotion as it had not broken any rules.

Sainsbury’s Christmas truce advert defended under heavy fire > http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/831453b4-8abd-11e4-be0e-00144feabdc0.html (Registration req)

Also fittingly this BBC article gives some extra background from a French perspective on the fraternisations and how the establishment viewed those involved as 'rebels' and for it not to be encouraged.

One of these men left us an extraordinary account of the spirit of this fraternisation. His name is Louis Barthas, a cooper in Aude departement before the war and a corporal during the four years of the conflict, which he survived.

Barthas wrote: "Shared suffering brings hearts together, dissolves hatred and prompts sympathy among indifferent people and even enemies. Those who deny this understand nothing of human psychology. French and German soldiers looked at one another and saw that they were all equal as men."

He went on to make a wish from the depths of his trench near Arras: "Maybe one day in this part of Artois region, they will erect a monument to commemorate this surge of brotherly feeling among men who hated war and who were forced to kill each other against their will."

Louis Barthas is a spokesman for all those whose acts, stories and memory have been denied. We want to grant his wish and erect a monument for men who were brave enough to make this brotherly gesture

How France has forgotten the Christmas truce soldiers > http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30433729

 

[Pete Keeffe]

I wasn't keen on that ad but kudos to Sainsburys for donating to the British Legion.
The Legion does good work.