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Poll: Is Sainsbury’s WW1 Christmas advert distasteful?

This poll is over 9 years old
 

Objectors claim the supermarket, which is supporting the Royal British Legion, is being distasteful with its Christmas campaign but others say it's a work of art raising money for a good cause

Is Sainsbury's WW1 Christmas advert distasteful?

Yes
107
No
157

Move over John Lewis it’s Sainsbury’s turn to be the most talked about Christmas advert this year.

The supermarket’s three-minute long World War I inspired advert has been the recipient of a flood of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority but has equally received a deluge of praise from others.

Cynics say the advert which is supporting the Royal British Legion through sales of a chocolate bar, featured in the clip, is distasteful for using imagery from the war for commercial gain.

However those who love it say it beautifully tells the story of the famous truce on Christmas Day 1914 when German and British soldiers temporarily put down their guns and met in no man’s land.

What do you think? Watch the advert above and tell us whether it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Options
Voting in this poll has now closed
 

Comments

0 0
Sandra Roth
over 9 years ago
How sad that, even at Christmas, some people see the need to be so cynical. The Sainsbury's advert is a timely reminder of the suffering of the First World War and shows this generation that amongst that suffering, a miracle happened if only for a few hours. It doesn't make me want to rush out and shop at Sainsbury's - in fact after watching the ad it didn't really register that they were the sponsors!
0 0
Roger Bibbings
over 9 years ago
A very apt and timely message - make peace not war - but sadly the fraternisation was quashed and the Great War went on to claim over 9 million lives. The war that followed in 1939/45 claimed nearly 50 million dead, and the Cold War that followed that nearly wiped out the planet. Have really learned the lesson that war is criminal madness? But well done Sainsburys for being bold enough to stand up for sanity and humanity.
0 0
Mark Nelson
over 9 years ago
Revolting ad and incredibly bad taste!!! Nothing wrong with the advert UNTIL the end when the shop at Sainsburys crap appears! Its well shot and a nice reminder of the occasional triumph of the human the but for a supermarket to exploit that story to boost sales is utterly atrocious!
0 0
Eddie
over 9 years ago
I loved it. Not an inch of bad taste, in fact, I was stunned to hear it had been marked as distasteful at all. I found it very touching and it caused me to reflect on how it is now. I am on a game server with my german friend. Brit and German playing a game only this time it is electronic and we can communicate at a distance.
0 0
Susan Shaw
over 9 years ago
It's a beautifully made advert - a work of art BUT it is spoilt by the tag-line - 'Christmas is for giving' (or possibly, 'Christmas is forgiving'). Without the tag-line it's just passable but to me, it doesn't quite hit the mark. It's not distasteful exactly but it is slightly worrying. I'm surprised that it was passed for broadcast. Just cut the tag-line!!
0 0
mason nicholl
over 9 years ago
A great advert remembering a special moment in history. How sad that there are still people who see bad in all things. They need to get out more !
0 0
Alex
over 9 years ago
How dare anyone use the war for commercial gain when so many people we know died fighting. Sainsburys did not have a supermarket in the trenches. This is our personal history (not a supermarkets) and i will not be shopping at sainsburys again.
0 0
Nessy
over 9 years ago
I cannot comprehend how anyone cannot see the underlying message in this advert - the need for humanity to love one another and to share in human kindness. I think that this is a very fitting way for the tragic losses of all wars to be of some benefit to humanity. NEVER MIND that it is a supermarket that has paid for the advert, GET REAL for all of our sakes please.
0 0
William Graham.
over 9 years ago
I feel that the Sainsburys advertisement was both tastefully presented and appropriate. The alternative would have been to ignore this blessed event and what would that gain. And, as we say, "We Will Remember Them"; what better way to do this than the aforementioned advertisement.
0 0
Paul
about 9 years ago
I have no doubt that the hundreds of thousands of British men who died in that tragic, awful war would be pleased to understand that their efforts did at least help Sainsbury's shift a few more mince pies.
0 0
James
about 9 years ago
In itself it's a great video It's just the fact that it's an advert that makes it horrendous. I'm shocked the British Legion was involved with this atrocity.
0 0
david
about 9 years ago
I am 53 and was recently sacked by Sainsbury for calling over at work at bus not completing 4 stockholders of paperwork, litteraly ticking a box. I cut and bruised my leg and was subsequently fired for gross misconduct. You couldn't make this travesty up.
0 0
Audrey Campbell
over 9 years ago
This advert is utterly disgusting. Who on earth thought this was a good idea to portray a scrubbed up romantic image of the trenches as a christmas advert. We all know the horrendous conditions suffered, and the fate of those who did their best for us. To use their sacrifice as a soppy promotion of a Supermarket is just unbelievable to me. Yes, the match took place and yes, after it the hostilities resumed. The flowers of the forest were not hewn down to be remembered in a tv advert. Cynical? Just outraged.
Commenting is now closed on this post