I watched the new Sainsbury’s Christmas ad last night. It
beautifully recounts a moment in history that really says something about the
nature of war and all those involved in it. I’m pretty cynical about those
cutesy Christmas ads, but this one really is something else. It’s a tiny
docudrama that tells the tale of two young soldiers, an Englishman and a
German, who forge a brief friendship at Christmas and how the gift of giving is
what Christmas is all about.
Of course there’s a gloss to it, it’s a little over-sentimentalised,
but all the horror is still there and there’s no product placement, no cynical
attempt to sell, sell, sell, based on the story that unfolds.
The First World War must have been so terrible for all those
men in the trenches regardless of the side that they were fighting on. British,
German, French, what difference did it make? They were all just men and boys
caught up in something they had no control over and certainly didn’t have part
in causing.
Men and boys away from home and loved ones, frightened and
uncomfortable, lost in so many ways.
I guess most people were aware of the story of the Christmas
no-man’s land truce before this new Sainsbury’s ad; a brief break in the
fighting to play a game of football on Christmas Day. Most of these types of
story are myths like the Mons Angel, but in this case it’s all true. All along
those deep trenches of the Western Front back in 1914 men stopped firing at
each other, sang carols together, met up, even played a game or two of football and became friends for a few brief hours.
Of course it was all unofficial, not sanctioned by the
governments of any side involved and it wasn’t universal, some men kept
shooting. It all depended on where on the front line you were. The following
year the military forbade it, although some ignored the order and kept
Christmas with each other still. But by the Christmas of 1917 the combination
of orders from above and the sheer level of bloodiness and despair meant that
the Christmas truce stopped happening and the killing went on despite the
sanctity of the day. Such a shame, but then that whole war was a shame in the
truest sense of the word.
Look, I could go on about how this advert is still selling
Sainsbury’s brand. I could suggest that it’s just Sainsbury’s sticking it to
John Lewis. I could argue that selling anything on the back of such a bloody
conflict can’t possibly be right, even a pound bar of chocolate with all the
profits going to the Royal British Legion. I could, but I won’t. The advert
really got to me and I think most people will come away with the right message
rather than the urge to dash to Sainsbury’s to buy overly expensive goods.
I hate to say it, but I admire Sainsbury’s a little for
doing this.
