To be saddened by 'glamour and bling' poppies?

[LayMizzRarb]

Do people actually not understand what they represent? Am I alone in thinking that the poppy is a symbol of respect and remembrance for the hundreds of thousands of people who die in wars, and not as a fashion accessory ?
It's all very well the manufacturers saying they will give an amount of money per diamanté poppy sold to charity, but at the end of the day, they are still making a profit.

I like the fragility and the way paper poppies are meant to be disposed of each year, rather like the lives of the soldiers in WW1. If bling poppies make money for the cause then good for them but I prefer my small modest paper one any day.

sue52 That's exactly what I meant. You put it better.

I have a little metal poppy from the online store. I find attaching a paper one difficult and always end up messing it up. I will contribute to the appeal each year though. I knew someone who reused the same paper poppy every year and saw nothing wrong in doing this. I was stunned. It is about respect and remembrance but surely it's also to raise much needed funds.

Wow. Where did I criticise the RBL or even people who choose to buy them? I had forgotten how nasty some things can get on AIBU.

I asked if anyone thought the same as me, not that I thought anyone who wore them was wrong.

And like the reader up thread, I also dislike the way that brands and manufacturers hijack the pink ribbon to promote their products.
Yes it's great that they are giving money to charity (and getting tax relief on the donation) but they are playing on people's compassion and extra sales that are effected will offset the donation. The fact they have a pink ribbon on the packs will also mean they get a free mention in women's magazines and Sunday supplements as a way to support the charity.

If you suffer from cancer you want to get on with your life and put thoughts of cancer to the back of your mind. That's not easy when you walk into a supermarket and every other product from washing up liquid and loo roll to biscuits and cakes have the word cancer on the front of them.

I also feel whilst poppy wearing on TV is probably driven by PR etc I feel it is helping to enforce the idea of wearing a poppy and establishing it as the norm which is very helpful to the RBL/the appeal.

I understand what you mean mrsmargotleadbetter but the competitiveness of some poppy-wearers and their attitude to people who aren't wearing them makes me uneasy.

My father served in World War II, and I've worn a poppy since primary school. It's become increasingly important to me. And for me, it has to be a simple paper one, for the reasons another poster expressed so eloquently.

However, he never wore one and neither does my mother who is still alive. It doesn't bother her that people don't wear one, just so long as they aren't disrespectful of people who served in WWI, which her father did, WWII, other conflicts and people who are serving now.

Actually, though I've never discussed why my mother doesn't wear a poppy, I think I've guessed from other conversations. It's because for her, poppy-wearing is what politicians do at the Cenotaph, long after they've sent young people into danger.

That's the personal view of a woman who is proud of her father, her husband and his friends, did her bit on the home front and talks of the Second World War and some other conflicts as necessary things.

She grieves over the deaths and injuries in war, particularly a boy who was my nephew's schoolfriend who was killed in Afghanistan - proudly doing his job, I would add.

She bears no animosity towards other poppy-wearers.

After all that I forgot to say, YANBU OP

I have a big china poppy brooch and matching earrings that I wear to the church service on the Sunday but I still buy the paper ones i tend to buy two or three as they do fall off, I also have a couple of the metal pin badges

love the bling ones might buy one this year

If OP really thinks the Royal British Legion 'does not understand' what the poppy represtents, then she is woefully under informed

That wasn't what the op meant at all

I don't see the problem.

The 'bling' poppies are much harder wearing and resilient than the paper poppies. They are also less likely to fall off as they have a proper broach clip. Also some of them cost £10-£25 so far more money is going to where its needed.

I keep my paper one from year to year. I do donate money. I'm trying to be a bit green too.

so far more money is going to where its needed.

Grammar fail, should say "where it's needed."

Also some of them cost £10-£25 so far more money is going to where its needed.

That depends on production costs and things though. As a one off payment rather than buying year on year I would doubt more money was raised. Of course some give every year but I bet not all.

To me the issue is still the making it something fashionable and glamorous rather than being about the issue at hand though.

What poppy you wear doesn't reflect what you can or have donated. A lady local to me crochets them. She donates roughly £500 to the British legion, every November. The wool is donated. I think its lovely.

Also where are you stressing the importance?

The money raised or the act of remembrance and memorial itself?

It's both for me. I donate regularly.

The reason I'm not so fond of bling poppies is because they stand for exactly the things that weren't valued at the time of WW1 and 2. Wearing a sparkly more expensive poppy is individualistic (express our own separate identity) and consumerist (the largest amount of money goes to the manufacturer). Those who lived through those wars had entirely different values of being- not individualism but communal sacrifice, not consumerism but austerity and rationing.

I wouldn't condemn anyone for wearing them, and see the rationale about earning more money, but I think it's eroding the simplicity of the tribute where everyone, rich or poor, wears a simple paper poppy.

The poppy represents the cause. You can wear poppy deely-boppers if you want as long as the message is there.

War. It's all a bit of fun, isn't it?

Much prefer the brooches purely because the paper ones fall off.

Just like the people do

We're all different, but personally, I don't think deely boppers in the shape of poppies would be terribly appropriate .

To me, poppies, and Armistice Day symbolise a time for quiet and thoughtful reflection, not for wearing springs on your head and wearing a crystal brooch on an outfit because it sets it off.

What ever next? Sellers wandering up and down Whitehall selling popcorn and toffee apples to the waiting crowds?

Deeleyboppers?!

I have the Estee Lauder 2011 breast cancer brooch. All pink stones except for one stone which is blue to symbolize the men who have had or died from breast cancer.

I did have a small enamel poppy a few years back but i took it off my denim jacket to wash it and after that couldnt find it. So i wear the paper ones.
Some excellent points made on this thread though.

Lt Eve thats a lovely idea adding your poppies to your Christmas wreath.