Very few people wearing poppies this year?

[YippieKayakOtherBuckets]

Anyone else noticed this?

I was in some very busy parts of London today and saw maybe half a dozen people wearing poppies in total. I’m watching Question Time now; the panel are all wearing poppies (the Plaid Cymru representative is wearing a red and a white poppy side-by-side) and at a glance I’d say less than a quarter of people are wearing them.

Is this primarily because of Gaza or did the trend start a while ago? Are people who used to wear poppies now choosing not to? I know this probably sounds very journalisty but I’m not, I promise. I’m really struck by what feels like a dramatic cultural shift in the last ten years or so.

I'm wearing one

It is outdated. Wearing a poppy is outdated. The younger generation quite frankly don't really care about it, I'm in my 30's and to be quite honest I'm not that bothered by it all and many of my peers feel exactly the same. It's shoved down our throats every year, questioned if you aren't wearing one, massive tacky displays everywhere. You don't have to wear a poppy to show your gratitude. You can quietly do so without letting every Tom, Dick and Harry know.
There are bigger and more important things going on in the world right now than wearing a bit of paper and plastic on your clothes.

Well maybe the 'younger generation' should be reminded of all the young people who lost their lives in two world wars

There are two traditions, one fading and one growing.

The dwindling tradition is to wear a poppy to show and encourage reflection about the great courage and personal sacrifice of those who’ve fought and died for this country and other free countries.

The growing tradition is for threads on MN to rubbish the red poppy, promote white poppies or to claim that those who’ve fought for the UK in armed conflicts are stooges of shadowy and malevolent forces. The anti-Remembrance threads on MN come round like clockwork, along with threads complaining about fireworks, the Grand National and mothers in law.

I have one on my winter coat at the moment. I wouldn't pin it on my waterproof coat, and I don't switch it onto my clothes.

At work I keep putting on and taking off a lab coat or boiler suit, so it would just get knocked off anyway.

So I do have and wear one, but not all the time. I know a few people the same, we've all donated and have a poppy, but it stays on one clothing item.

It appears that the poppy seller being assaulted didn't actually happen also

Wearing poppies has nothing to do with Gaza

I’m wearing one. My husband served for 35yrs and DS1 has been serving for 9.5yrs. Lots of people in their 30s are wearing them to remember their mates who died. Children are still remembering their parents and mothers and fathers are still remembering their sons and daughters.

It’s all well and good to say that the Govt send forces personnel away so they should look after them, but they don’t. And the RBL go further than that. They help the families of those who are serving and have served right up until their dying day. The work they do is absolutely invaluable to the armed forces community.

I don’t understand the “well they signed up for it” argument either. What would you all do if they didn’t?

There was a huge amount of people in the station. I can easily believe he was jostled, and his way out cut off. I know where the poppy sellers are at Waverley, and he would have got stuck right in the middle, a long way from the exits and with his table/donation box etc.

I can also believe, unfortunately, that some people there would be unkind about somebody in military uniform.

I can't say if he was assaulted or not, but I can believe that for a 78 year old (anybody really, but it's harder if you're less robust) stuck in the middle of that it wouldn't be a nice experience at all.

I think it's mostly people who wear poppies themselves who notice how many people aren't. The poppy police.

There are a couple of posters on this thread who state that they will donate to RBL, Combat Stress, or similar, but won't wear a poppy.

By contrast, there are people who bought a bling or knitted poppy once and wear it year on year without making further donations.

Wearing it doesn't necessarily mean donating, nor vice-versa.

By contrast, there are people who bought a bling or knitted poppy once and wear it year on year without making further donations.

I wear a knitted one and have donated online

I used to wear poppies every year as my grandfather fought in the war. I was proud to wear one and the two minute silence was a very solemn and reflective moment. But the past couple of years I haven't worn one and didn't know why I didn't feel comfortable doing so. Thanks to this thread and another pp I've now realised it was due to the sparkly, showy, huge, diamanté type poppies, the "look at me" ones. Nothing quiet or reflective about those. And now I feel sad as though something special has been ruined and a memory of my grandfather feels tainted in some weird way. Hard to explain.

And yes OP, it seems as though the wearers are the odd ones out now, very rare seeing any worn in the supermarkets near me this year but they are selling them in the doorway.

London has a very international population especially students.... so not surprising really. never noticed many poppies in London when I lived there.

What is wrong with wearing a white poppy? Do you know what it even means? It's still a poppy and it still pays tribute to all who sacrificed their lives in the military (like my grandfather) but also civilians, whilst not wanting another world war. Or any war.

I bought a few in the UK to bring back as I live overseas, very few Brits where I am, so apart from DH, we are the only 2 wearing them. I also bought items as gifts from RBL online.

But Saturday will be attending a service at the Commonwealth War Graves so expect to see more there.

I am saddened to read whats happening with the poppy sellers in the UK

My analysis:.

I think the world wars are now leaving living memory. I don't have any living relatives who were alive during them. People aged 10, and thus in a position to remember, in 1945 would now be 88+ years old. There just aren't many knocking about and for those who actually served... Even fewer.

It's natural that the emotions associated with a particular rememberance will fade as this happens. I get a little bit irritated when people in their 60s, 70s and 80s go on about WW2 like they're proud of it when they weren't even part of it (obviously, their parents were and there are generational impacts but it does also seem to be a certain kind of person with certain political and cultural views that I don't necessarily feel on the same page as).

There is a broader cultural context also of anti-war sentiment in relation to Iraq and Afghanistan. This resulted in a bit of confusing / diluted messaging for the poppy campaign. The World War related messaging has always been about noble and necessary sacrifice to protect our freedoms in the face of a great evil. It's a good message, and pretty inarguable but it is fundamentally political and pro-war in the specific context of WW2 at least (most people are pro-war in the context of WW2 and I'd count myself among them!). However, people don't feel this way about Iraq and Afghanistan or other recent conflicts. So we are left with a pro-war message about WW2 but of course, we are running out of veterans to support from WW1/2. We do have deserving veterans from more recent conflicts but the political / pro-war messaging doesn't sit so well and people don't want to be seen to be making a political statement in support of recent wars.

In response to waning interest and memory, and to remain relevant, I kind of feel like the poppy campaign and the broader cultural connotations of rememberance have taken a direction which many feel is a bit... Distateful or insincere? Eg commercialisation of all manner of ultra expensive fancy poppy themed accessories / tat? It does feel a bit of the solemnity is lost and it's all a poppy competition. Of course the poppy campaign is not unique in tapping into commercialisation and trends of showing off in social media etc, and I can see why this trend has been basically inevitable. But it doesn't have the same earnest feel of the poppy campaign when I was a child in the 90s. The whiff of insincerity has made people a bit more cynical about it. At the same time, it seems to have become compulsory for anyone in front of a camera to wear a poppy and media hounding of people not wearing one... Sort of feels a bit like it's tapped into a culture war of sorts?

That culture war is between those who fall further toward conservatism (which always looks backward) and are viewed as adopting a rose-tinted glorification of the last century with more than a pinch of patriotism/ nationalism thrown in, and those who broadly feel much more cynical about war and the West as the "good guys". That's obviously massively complicated by and linked to generational differences / wealth distribution / political polarisation and also views on Brexit etc.

But as the one side becomes more strongly advocating of the poppy campaign, the other side becomes more... Cynical of the poppy campaign. Resentful even. Rightly or wrongly. Whilst in theory the poppy campaign is apolitical and simply about supporting veterans charities, it can't be removed from a political and cultural context. And we can see that it is different than other charities in that broadcasters/footballers etc wouldn't be shamed or hounded for not publicly supporting other deserving charities.

People who want everyone to wear a poppy often don't understand why anyone would bring up Gaza. They view the poppy as unrelated to modern politics. Even though, broadly speaking those who unreservedly support and promote rememberance these days tend to have a similar political profile.

People who feel less engaged with or more cynical of the poppy campaign often do see it as political and specifically associate it with conservatism, pro-war, pro-Brexit, pro West etc and naturally will bring events like Gaza into their perspective.

They are selling other merchandise now. I paid by my card to one seller and bought a snap band for my child and a key ring for myself. Perhaps you can't see these?
I've always bought poppies but I'd lose them after a day or so as the pin doesn't keep them on. The new merchandise is better.

Simple as this for me really

Where I work we always have a poppy box.
First year since I've worked there (neat 10 years) we've run out.

I've also noticed a lot of people in the last couple of years have enamel badges, so maybe you're not noticing them.

Wearing poppies has nothing to do with Gaza

Well, it sort of does, as the original intention has since been widened to include all servicepeople in all wars. I know we aren't directly involved in the ME conflict, but our leaders have nailed their official colours to the mast, as to whom they support, on behalf of the country - and we have a long tradition of selling arms to other countries, so it's very likely that we are involved in (and benefit from) many wars, even if none of our personnel are present.

If it isn't about modern wars as well, then what's the point of the RBL at all? How many veterans from WW2 (let alone WW1, whence the poppy appeal originated) are still alive for them to need to support? Can't have it both ways.

If we still have to live in a world where war is accepted - and where the UK actively seeks to cash in by selling arms to anybody who orders them - why can't we at least stick a hefty tax on those weapons and then use that to support ex-military people who need it?

It's not like anybody who ever buys weapons and pays for wars and acts of military aggression ever seems to care about the colossal financial cost of it all - not in the way that they do when it comes to forcing severely disabled people off essential benefits and into jobs that they simply cannot do, slamming and spying on people on UC who may possibly be under-declaring their income, or keeping hungry children unfed.

As Tony Benn so succinctly and correctly put it, “If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people.”

Referring back to the issue of Strictly using super-glamorous elaborate poppies, wouldn't the point be much better made if, on their glitzy, fancy outfits, they also had a plain, simple, ordinary poppy - so the bleak, brutal reality of war would be in stark unavoidable contrast to the frivolous glamour of their costumes? Discreetly sew them on, to avoid them falling off, if need be.

Currently, they're making it clear that the remembrance part must fit in nicely with the frivolity - it's not an important aspect that stands in its own right, as a backdrop to the freedoms that now allow us to have big, outlandish dancing competitions, but it's nothing more than an accessory that has to blend in and 'look right'.

Ima,ways buy one
Then I lose it ...falls off my dress..coat ..forget to re out in to the next days outfit..etc etc.
Doesn't mean I don't care or think.

This is really thoughtful and cogent. Thank you.

There was a big stand selling poppies at Victoria Station this week. I bought a discreet little poppy pin and a paper one online a week or so ago. I wear one because my late aunt lost her new husband 3 weeks before the end of the war, and she always wore a poppy and went to the Cenotaph. I feel like I'm doing it for her, in a weird way.

I'm in my late 50s, and when I was at primary school we were asked to bring in money to buy a poppy every year. We all wore one. I'm currently on a London bus, and I'm the only one wearing one, as far as I can see. Some of my local station staff were wearing poppies this morning. I don't mind either way if people wear them, as I said, my reasons are more to do with family.

I don’t agree that noticing = policing. I’m quite an observant person. It doesn’t mean that my observations are judgemental or often even shared with anyone - this thread is quite unusual for me.