Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Has anyone else noticed the trend for foodstuffs and other items to be marketed as 'British' or with a Union Jack in the logo? M&S seems prone to it, but Shredded Wheat now takes the biscuit >koff<

I'd always assumed our milk was British...

You're probably old enough to remember the rather strange phenomenon of the "I'm Backing Britain" campaign. Not sure how official it was, but I dimly recall lots of celebs wearing kit with union flags all over it popping up on the telly every 20 minutes to try and stir up some sort of national pride in being British, suggesting that you should "Buy British" even though, to take one obvious example, British-built cars were largely shite and you'd have been much better off buying a Datsun or a Toyota. I don't think it lasted long - even if it did have its own fucking song (see clip - warning: only play if you have a high aural shite tolerance)

I guess this is a similar sort of thing.

There was some young woman who became the darling of the Tory press by starting a campaign to work an extra hour per week for free to improve the nation’s productivity levels. That went down like cold sick among Britain’s patriotic workers.

I did my patriotic duty this week by purchasing a hat ‘designed in England.’ That probably means a drawing is emailed to a factory In Bangladesh, they knock out a few thousand and put them in a crate bound for Tilbury. It’s not even a specifically English flag or insignia.

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:56 am I'd always assumed our milk was British...

A whole lot of it came from over here. Now, with all-Island being essentially EU-reg compliant, there's possibly a distinction being made. (Mind you, Northern Ireland is in the UK, not Britain, so it wasn't ever technically British, but I digress).

The way meat production tended to break up on an EU basis could also be a factor. Last year, despite the countryside here being thick with chicken houses, and Tyson/Moy Park having several huge factories, cut and whole chickens still tended to be (expensively) imported from Benelux because the setup here was more focused on processed product chicken, and industrial inertia is a hell of a thing.

Abernathy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 12:16 pm You're probably old enough to remember the rather strange phenomenon of the "I'm Backing Britain" campaign. Not sure how official it was, but I dimly recall lots of celebs wearing kit with union flags all over it popping up on the telly every 20 minutes to try and stir up some sort of national pride in being British, suggesting that you should "Buy British" even though, to take one obvious example, British-built cars were largely shite and you'd have been much better off buying a Datsun or a Toyota. I don't think it lasted long - even if it did have its own fucking song (see clip - warning: only play if you have a high aural shite tolerance)

I guess this is a similar sort of thing.

I first became aware of this by studying my Dad's Giles cartoon annuals. I assumed it was Heath, but it actually started under Wilson in 1968. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Backing_Britain

That was in response to what used to be called a "balance of payments crisis", something we eventually got so used to, we no longer worry about it. The theory behind it, obviously, is that you can counter a perceived additional value in imported goods (quality and/or price) by adding a 'feel-good' patriotic value to home-produced goods. Very similar to Brand Theory, it's basically an attempt to con the consumer into thinking they're getting something that doesn't actually exist in any real form.

That was in response to what used to be called a "balance of payments crisis", something we eventually got so used to, we no longer worry about it.

A devalued currency was also an existential national crisis that measured the country’s virility. Until the Thatcher government called the falling currency ‘finding its market level.’

Another of those irregular verbs.

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:50 am Has anyone else noticed the trend for foodstuffs and other items to be marketed as 'British' or with a Union Jack in the logo?

Aldi are very, very keen in this, maybe to counter any (correct) perception that they're a foreign company.

In Wales (a similar thing happens in Scotland, I think) we have the absurd situation of milk bottles covered in Union Jacks in both Aldi and Tesco, accompanied by signs assuring us that all the milk comes only from Welsh farms.

Sometimes it can be confusing. You may have spotted milk from "Lakeland Dairies" on sale. Hint - it's not from Cumbria.

Killer Whale wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 8:57 am

Malcolm Armsteen wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 11:50 am Has anyone else noticed the trend for foodstuffs and other items to be marketed as 'British' or with a Union Jack in the logo?

Aldi are very, very keen in this, maybe to counter any (correct) perception that they're a foreign company.

In Wales (a similar thing happens in Scotland, I think) we have the absurd situation of milk bottles covered in Union Jacks in both Aldi and Tesco, accompanied by signs assuring us that all the milk comes only from Welsh farms.

In Aldi's defence, they have a policy of actively supporting a local supply chain.
It contrasts well with the traditional supermarket model of tying suppliers into long term contracts, then screwing them by invoking one-way pricing adjustments.

I'm a big fan of Aldi. Just disappointed that they have to play the silly game with flags.

Next up "Soverignty flavour crisps".

A bag of air with a big flag printed on it.

Andy McDandy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 9:32 am Sometimes it can be confusing. You may have spotted milk from "Lakeland Dairies" on sale. Hint - it's not from Cumbria.

In fairness, Co. Cavan does have its fair share of lakes.

A quick question to those based in GB - does Hovis there use a massive Union Fleg based design on their loaf wrappers? Because I've seen images of it used for online grocery ordering but, for what should be obvious reasons, they're not used over here (as I understand it, that may relate to Kingsmill products baked in Belfast that is then otherwise sold across NI).

Bones McCoy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 11:16 am In Aldi's defence, they have a policy of actively supporting a local supply chain.

Same with Lidl IIRC. No Aldi's in the wee six.

In answer to your quick question Spoony. Yes, I've e seen some very pay-tree-otic Hovis wrappers. They are a thing.

I have no problem with flags flown in context.
* National days (where they exist).
* Small (text height) icons to identify place of origin.
* Little badges that flight attendants wear to identify languages spoken (Though this can just pile up the confusion, what should I infer form a Swiss or Belgian flag badge?).

Where I start to object is when flagism takes on a life of its own, much as poppyism has.

At the low end there's people flying those mini union jacks from their car windows - around olympics time.

Moving up, you get the types who loudly demand a flag at their workplace, kid's school or local police station.
Usually looking to provoke trouble when they don't get their way.
Funny how those coppers who "should be out catching real criminals" magically have time to manage a flag locker and associated poles.

Then you get the ones who attach it to their twitter polemics.
Imagining it makes them some kind of Capt. Charles Upham (VC and bar). *

Near the top are the ones who inscribe it on their white van.
As though it's the reincarnation of HMS Warspite **, and mediocre plumbing is a source of national pride.


* Won two VCs based on his habit of charging German machinegun bunkers armed with a bag of grenades.

** Royal Navy Battleship, served in both world wars taking on German (twice), Italian and Japanese navies. Frequently limping home damaged but never sunk. Used as a bombardment ship to cover amphibious landings and coastal battles in Italy, France, Belgium and Netherlands.

Lots of these around these days, too.

Shredded Wheat.
Made by Nestlé.
Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

A great dal of utter guff being bandied about this St George’s Day on the talk radio phone-ins about pride in your country -England, the UK, whatever.

As usual, not a single contributor (I resisted the temptation to phone in myself) cared to point out the sheer, illogical absurdity of taking “pride” in something over which you have had no control, no choice, and no say. I refer of course, to the totally random nature of an individual human having happened to have begun life in a particular geographic location, to a particular couple of parents whose genetic material they just happen to have inherited.

Like racism, nationalistic pride is fundamentally stupid. Dr Johnson had it about right, as did the originator of a well-known expression among Scots :”We’re aw Jock Tamson’s bairns”.