[TV] The new Sainsbury's Christmas ad

[Nibble]

I guess it depends on the view of good or bad news. profit is down 6% on the same period last year but that's still £375m profit which isn't too shabby. Also I'm not aware of shelving stores - they've said they are not opening as many but concentrating on opening in those areas that get a good return. The retail landscape has changed and as such they're opening 100 more Convenience stores as people want places they can make smaller shops for 'topping up' the cupboard.

Like most places in retail, it's a tough place still currently....still, they're not Tesco

True, all big retail stores are on the backfoot at present.

 

[El Presidente]

Yup.

I feel dirty.

I love it when you talk dirty x

 

[Frutos]

Just seen it for the first time, and I have to say I really liked it.

Incredible to think that in the midst of all that horror, the events depicted (Silent Night, the football match) actually happened, and I think it's good to see something that shows that and reminds people of it, even if it is ultimately all for a commercial cause. Still, it's going to raise a bucketload of cash for the RBL, so no complaints from me.

 

[banjo]

I love it when you talk dirty x

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

Ball was deffo over the line. Typical Guardian comment best left read once and then discarded. It showed a humane side of atrocity and war. Many more positives than negatives in showing this film. Irrelevant that it was done by Sainsburys IMHO. TNBA. TTF

 

[seagully]

I was under the impression that there was no firm evidence the football match actually happened.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Donations aside, Sainsbo's aren't doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, they're ultimately looking for a return on it, that's what advertising is for. Its what its all about. And using this event in history in order to peddle their wares just doesn't sit well with me.

Guess I'm just getting cynical in my old age.

A little overly cynical I would suggest. The film will have cost them a fortune to make and broadcast being far far longer than any normal ad. I didn't time it but I would guess it is about 4 minutes long and of that Sainsburys name is shown for what ? 2 seconds ? I doubt very much people will change their supermarket on the back of it apart from possibly popping in specially to get the advertised chocolate so I'd be very surprised if Sainsburys even break even on it.

Nope - I'm with [MENTION=18563]BHAFC_Pandapops[/MENTION] on this one. A moving and tasteful short film which has been shown when children are watching ( *whispers*, during X-Factor ). I find the current Band Aid publicity for tax dodging billionaire pop stars far more disagreable than this.

 

[Brovion]

I was under the impression that there was no firm evidence the football match actually happened.

There were several football matches, although 'matches' is probably too formal a word and they were probably little more than kickabouts - and not necessarily using proper footballs either. It depends what you mean by 'firm evidence' though, there's obviously no YouTube videos, and official regimental histories tend to be sketchy as after all they were supposed to be fighting. The main evidence (and why we know there was more than one) comes from letters that the soldiers wrote home. Both sides mention football kickabouts. If it had just been one bloke the stories could be dismissed, but it's mentioned in far too many letters for it to be a total myth.

EDIT: I do remember BBC's Football Focus once interviewing an old soldier who said he'd taken part in one.

 

[seagully]

There were several football matches, although 'matches' is probably too formal a word and they were probably little more than kickabouts - and not necessarily using proper footballs either. It depends what you mean by 'firm evidence' though, there's obviously no YouTube videos, and official regimental histories tend to be sketchy as after all they were supposed to be fighting. The main evidence (and why we know there was more than one) comes from letters that the soldiers wrote home. Both sides mention football kickabouts. If it had just been one bloke the stories could be dismissed, but it's mentioned in far too many letters for it to be a total myth.

EDIT: I do remember BBC's Football Focus once interviewing an old soldier who said he'd taken part in one.

Just found this on Wikipedia. Make of it what you will I guess.

Not all historians agree that any organised football matches took place. Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton in their book Christmas Truce[19] say that the only references to football matches are either hearsay or refer to 'kick-about' matches with 'made-up footballs'. In one instance members of the Lancashire Fusiliers had a game where the ball was a tin of bully beef. Brown and Seaton also mention attempts to play organised matches which failed to take place. They conclude that serious football matches could not have taken place because of the state of ground in no-man's land

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Quite similar to the Christmas truce scene from "Oh what a lovely war"

[YT]NOz9SpWc_yE[/YT]

which was filmed at Sheepcote Valley. We used to creep over there and play in the trenches before the set was dismantled

 

[Monkey Man]

I was under the impression that there was no firm evidence the football match actually happened.

I recently read the Jeremy Paxman book about WWI and although he dispels a lot of myths surrounding the war, he seems pretty sure that football matches on Christmas day definitely took place. I recommend the book, by the way.

 

[Brovion]

Just found this on Wikipedia. Make of it what you will I guess.

Not all historians agree that any organised football matches took place. Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton in their book Christmas Truce[19] say that the only references to football matches are either hearsay or refer to 'kick-about' matches with 'made-up footballs'. In one instance members of the Lancashire Fusiliers had a game where the ball was a tin of bully beef. Brown and Seaton also mention attempts to play organised matches which failed to take place. They conclude that serious football matches could not have taken place because of the state of ground in no-man's land

Yeah, that's probably about right. Certainly you're not going to find December 25th 1914 listed as a date of an official England v Germany organised international football match. (And I can't believe No Man's Land was as undamaged as it appears in that advert).

 

[Man of Harveys]

Quite similar to the Christmas truce scene from "Oh what a lovely war"

[YT]NOz9SpWc_yE[/YT]

which was filmed at Sheepcote Valley. We used to creep over there and play in the trenches before the set was dismantled

Never mind that: it's a total, shameless, almost frame by frame rip-off of Paul McCartney's 1983 video for Pipes Of Peace: also a pre-Christmas release which had the same sentiment and a far better soundtrack. Oh and one might say a rather higher minded aim than merely seeking to increase sales of groceries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ErrZ-ipoE

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Quite similar to the Christmas truce scene from "Oh what a lovely war"

which was filmed at Sheepcote Valley. We used to creep over there and play in the trenches before the set was dismantled

That makes sense. The scene with the fields of crosses was in the fields over the road from St Dunstans.

 

[BBassic]

It's a great advert. They're not shilling their wares directly; they're telling the story of a remarkable cease-fire which occurred 100 years ago. Nothing wrong with it in my mind.

 

[keaton]

Donations aside, Sainsbo's aren't doing it out of the kindness of their hearts, they're ultimately looking for a return on it, that's what advertising is for. Its what its all about. And using this event in history in order to peddle their wares just doesn't sit well with me.

Guess I'm just getting cynical in my old age.

But then anyone who makes a film about the World Wars is doing to make money? Like Spielberg and Polanski with their holocaust movies. The bloke who did the poppies in the tower will make a load of money from them as well as raising his profile ten-fold.

 

[MattBackHome]

Surely the difference between The Pianist, Guernica and a Sainsbury's ad doesn't need to be pointed out?

A clue - only one is designed with the purpose of schilling turkeys.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Surely the difference between The Pianist, Guernica and a Sainsbury's ad doesn't need to be pointed out?

A clue - only one is designed with the purpose of schilling turkeys.

Point taken, but the other two, as worthy and beautiful as they are, are ultimately designed with the purpose of 'schilling' cinema tickets.

 

[keaton]

Surely the difference between The Pianist, Guernica and a Sainsbury's ad doesn't need to be pointed out?

A clue - only one is designed with the purpose of schilling turkeys.

And the Pianist was designed to make money for a rapist if you strip both down to the basics. Is that better?

 

[MattBackHome]

Point taken, but the other two, as worthy and beautiful as they are, are ultimately designed with the purpose of 'schilling' cinema tickets.

To be clear, I actually quite like the Sainsbury's advert.

I do think it's schmalzy and glossy and utterly at odds with any of the actual accounts of the war (I'd really recommend last years Radio 4 'Voices' podcast for a fantastic account of these), but I don't think that's a problem. I also don't think it's disrespectful to 'use' the war in this way - in no way does it impair the memory of anyone affected by the war itself.

But the fact remains that the primary purpose of this is to increase brand awareness and drive more Xmas footfall to Sainsbury's - the whole 'remember the dead and help the British Legion' stuff is a distant second. Again - I don't have a problem with this. They're a business and it's their raison d'etre.