Friday 29 November 2013

Have a Sainsbury's Christmas!

Three years ago, I was listening to the radio yesterday when my attention was drawn to the opening chords of my favourite song played at Christmas time. Irked because it was still a month until Christmas, I tried to think happier thoughts. To my horror, it then became apparent that the song was being used to promote the Christmas offering of the retail behemoth Sainsbury's.

The song was "I believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake. An erstwhile member of 1970s supergroup Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Greg Lake had started his music career with the now legendary King Crimson in 1968. In King Crimson at that time was long time Lake collaborator Pete Sinfield. After leaving King Crimson, Sinfield became a successful music producer and songwriter. With particular reference to Sainsbury's he famously penned "The land of make believe" which provided Bucks Fizz with a bit hit.

But back to "I believe in Father Christmas". I will resist the urge to lament the annihaltion of the song by Toyah Wilcox in the early 1980s. The original song was written as a protest against the commercialisation of Christmas. I could write a book about the lyrics but will instead concentrate on the ones which really matter. The final line underlines the true sentiment of the song; "The Christmas we get we deserve". Interestingly, the third verse contains the lines, "They sold me a dream of Christmas, They sold me a Silent Night". Obviously Greg had Sainsbury's in mind when he wrote it in 1974. Perhaps he saw what was coming and was trying to warn us all?

The irony of Sainsbury's using this song to coax us in to their shops is too much. At a time when the Government has spoken of the need to try and rejuvenate our high streets, has it occured to them why that need may have arisen? Successive governments and local councils throughout my 45 years have shamelessly promoted the growth of out of town retail sectors knowing full well the likely effect on our high streets. They even have the temerity to suggest that one of the problems with our current high streets is too many shops. There weren't too many shops until the Government decided to put them out of business!

My issue is not with Sainsbury's per se. My issue is with the promotion of a retail sector which has contributed to the demise of community spirit and which operates with carte blanche. Unregulated and unaccountable to Government these supermarkets have been allowed to proliferate out of control. In trying to understand the use by Sainsbury's of "I believe in Father Christmas" in it's Christmas advertising campaign, I assume they meant to warn us that if we shop there, we'll get the Christmas we deserve. I suppose we can all take that how we choose. I'm going to buck the trend and use my local high street because I value my local community and choose to support my local small businesses.

Recently, a whiff of common sense emerged from Downing Street. It seems as though the new head of the Bank of England has tried to convince the Government to ditch it's support for the burgeoning housing market in favour of the small businesses. It's reassuring to know that they remember what small businesses are. That said, I hope this is the start of a new trend towards vibrant high streets with their greater community cohesion. Perhaps then we might not see quite so many of our elderly dying due to the effects of the cold. We may also have more time to engage with the people in our neighbourhood. Our local area might even seem like a nicer place to live and we might, God forbid, get the Christmas we deserve.

The video for the song "I believe in Father Christmas" was shot in the Sinai desert and features footage of the Vietnam war. As such, it is seldom shown because it is thought to be too harsh to be shown in the festive season. On the contrary, I would show it all the more to remind people of the true world they live in and the true origin of Christmas. Given the choice of being sucked in to insane consumerism of Black Friday or the reassuring message of Christmas, I know which one I'll be choosing,

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