To hate all the Xmas foody banquet ads when so many cant afford a decent meal?

[BeckerLleytonNever]

...And will be queing at the food banks as usual?

Not wanting to poo pooh anyones enjoyment, but at a time when so many people have barely enough to eat these days cos of this fucking government and their cuts to the disabled and vulnerable, I wish some ads would be a bit more down to earthy, and not just the Sally army ones.

Same with warm cosy houses with log fires and toasty heating when some people (including us) have to resort to being in one room all winter just to have a bit of warmth in one room as tthey cant afford to heat the whole house?

awaiting either support or a flaming...............

The UK leads the world in advertising talent - have you seen the crap the US churns out?

The thing is, advertising is there to sell a dream. They wouldn't sell much with pictures of my lounge on Christmas day.

Christmas can be such a difficult time of year for so many people. I am so grateful and lucky to have my family to share a meal with on Christmas day. It wouldn't be perfect to an M&S advertising agent, but it's perfect to me. Don't watch the adverts. I don't take any notice. They're a load of old wank.

They wouldn't sell much with pictures of my lounge on Christmas day - mine neither topcat !

Actually an advert with a real house and real people might be quite refreshing.

e.g.
These crackers are full of shit, mum!
Yes, darling, they are. That's what crackers are.
But these ones are less shitty than the ones from other stores.

I can see where you're coming from OP, but all companies have to advertise, otherwise they would not make money. Which would result in them having to make their employees redundant, and more people being in a difficult financial situation.

Possibly a happy medium would to have the advert, but to include a section about buying food to donate to foodbanks as well. That way, people buy more food, which benefits the shop, plus it helps those who cannot afford food.

Food banks are part of the problem, as are tax family credits and those aspirational (for some) ads on the telly. If people who donated to foodbanks spent half as much time attacking the system thats lead to the rise in them, perhaps the poor in our country wouldn't have to rely on charity. It might make you feel better but its propping up the gap between the have and have nots. Working family tax credits disguise the fact that companies aren't paying a living wage. So the tax payer is subsidising big corporations. Jm2p

Working family tax credits disguise the fact that companies aren't paying a living wage. So the tax payer is subsidising big corporations. That is true.

If people who donated to foodbanks spent half as much time attacking the system thats lead to the rise in them, perhaps the poor in our country wouldn't have to rely on charity. It might make you feel better but its propping up the gap between the have and have nots.

So when people stop donating and just write letters to their MP demanding change what happens to the starving people?

You are not wrong in what your saying but dont try and make those who do give feel shit about it.

I'll take your 2p, louiseaaa

And while you are talking about bigger movements, possibilities, maybes, social changes I will continue to feed the very real people who fall into that very real gap and experience very real hunger and, much more often than you might want to imagine, suffer very real malnutrition, here - in the UK - in 2016.

And whilst you are pondering that be assured that, whilst I am politically active and work with a number of organisations to bring about just such changes, I don't begrudge the efforts of those who "simply give".

They make a real difference too!

You indignant post may make you feel better but, in very real terms, it does nothing to stop people, her in the UK, in 2016, from starving to death whilst your higher aim gathers momentum.

We all should be doing both giving and agitating. But I would applaud and thank anyone who does either... in real life, not just on line.

I, for one, am very grateful to those who donate to food banks, it wasn't all that long ago my dc and I fled to a refuge and the generosity of the people donating to the food bank and women's refuge still overwhelms me.

We had nothing at all when we left, within days we had full cupboards, clothes and toys.

It's all very well taking a political stance, but thanks to the very real and immediate help from people we got out of a very distressing situation.

While I don't necessarily agree with the OP, as we all know ads are supposed to be aspirational, not realistic, comments like this: Use that energy to formulate a plan to get out of this mess are not helpful. It's possible to be doing as much as you can to improve your own circumstances and still feel a bit hard done by when comparing yourself to everyone else. This government have made it incredibly difficult for people to improve their own situation without quite a bit of luck.

For the record I do do both, and more. If my post came across as blunt, it's because I am. I totally get what the op is saying. I'm really not some smug judjemental prat sat in an ivory tower. I feel very grateful that I'm not reliant on a food bank to feed my family but I am very angry on behalf of people who do. If you feel the same there is a private members bill coming up where we can have direct input, by Mharai Black. www.snp.org/tacklingsanctions
I belive that failing to address the root cause of inequality, we do not effect real change, and that's what we want, isn't it? Sure donating to a food bank is helpful, but getting involved with tackling the cause is as important.

I know that there are many people that do both, but talking about one without talking about the other is like ignoring the elephant in the room, which is where I am coming from.

This government have made it incredibly difficult for people to improve their own situation without quite a bit of luck.

The majority of people improve their own situation through hard work, not luck. The government aren't stopping people changing or improving their life in any way.

OP, Magic and Jaqueline - totally agree with you.

Basic food should not be aspirational. Having enough to eat shouldn't be a marketers dream. In the 6th biggest world economy, we should all be able to have a big meal with family once a year, and it's wrong that the distance between the haves and have nots is so great.

Having food is in no way is in no way comparable to advertising a Lexus or holidays or any other luxury.

Sheldon - in some areas, lack of jobs makes it impossible to work your way out of poverty.

Yanbu,, for years my daughter thought we were dead deprived because we didn't have tables laden with food. It doesn't give a true representation of most Christmases tbh.

People do not improve their situation through hard work unless they're an anecdote

Social mobility is practically non existent in this country. If you're born into a family on the poverty line the chances of staying there your whole life is over 90%

The odd anecdote doesn't mean data. I do wish people would take some sort of cursory fucking glance over statistics before coming out with get-on-your-bike/it was harder in my day/you've never had it so good utter bullshit.

Erm... we'll need some evidence for that AndShesGone or your post is just, erm, anecdote!

The government aren't stopping people changing or improving their life in any way.

Actually I think it has been demonstrated that chronic systematic underfunding or closure of public services

e.g.
Schools
NHS
Legal Aid
Sure Start
CAB
Libraries
Disability payments

amount to a serious obstacle to anyone trying to escape poverty and deprivation.

AndShesGone Sat 12-Nov-16 11:37:29
People do not improve their situation through hard work unless they're an anecdote hmm

Social mobility is practically non existent in this country. If you're born into a family on the poverty line the chances of staying there your whole life is over 90%

The odd anecdote doesn't mean data. I do wish people would take some sort of cursory fucking glance over statistics before coming out with get-on-your-bike/it was harder in my day/you've never had it so good utter bullshit.

life being poor can be summed up as such

I was raised poor lost my parents young so have no support apart from my other half.

My other half has many years experience running his parents post office in his teens.On his own with me within 5 years through hard work my other half with unemployment between.

first job he found

had a full time job with loads of over time for 1 month he worked him self sick as there was the prospect of being moved onto a permanent contract.At the end of it the company disappeared they got paid we didnt.We had rent and bills to pay.

he got various part time security work but we soon learnt temp work just seriously messed up benefits we were better off waiting for full time.

next job his supervisor repeatedly stole from the businesses and he got the blame .

after all this we are in debt for council tax as we simply could not afford the bills.Whats worst the unemployment in between at one point we lived in bedfordshire they repeatedly lost our housing benefit forms.We had to go months getting into debt to pay our rent. We had to borrow to move away from bedfordshire to prevent something like this again.

He finally has a full time job and i part time but we are dragged by debt that will keep us in poverty .If you are poor in this country employers know there is just another person just as desperate next in line.You are easily replaceable

Rowntree Foundation

www.jrf.org.uk/

Causes of poverty

People comparing posh cars to a meal on the table are being quite frankly, ridiculous.
Most ordinary people can't afford a posh car.
Many people are struggling to eat.

People aren't comparing a posh car to a meal, they are comparing it to the massive tables filled with salmon and goose and beef and turkey and 10 types of veg followed by 15 different puddings.

I don't know anyone who eats like that at Xmas anyway.

People comparing posh cars to a meal on the table are being quite frankly, ridiculous.
Most ordinary people can't afford a posh car.
Many people are struggling to eat.

People comparing showcasing banquets on the television advertisements, that are made of plastic and sprayed on gloss to being insensitive to people who are struggling to put food on the table are being quite frankly ridiculous.

Most ordinary people can't afford don't want want to create that scene.

The two are unrelated unless you decide to link them up.

Let's ban James Bond at Christmas because were not allowed to carry guns.

The adverts are purely that, just advetising their range of food for all different members of society. I dont think they really expect someone to have that much food on the table at once. You get to chose what you want and suits your traditions or maybe try something new.

I have never had a table like that, from a child we have always had chicken with a few veg then one pudding, with my own family a chicken or occaisionaly a pork roast and once a goose) No point in me doing loads of cooked veg the kids only eat raw veg. For many years I was scrimping and saving to have a nice xmas for the kids but I didnt think it was Tesco or Morrisons fault I couldnt afford all that food!

There have been winters when the only time the heating was on was when kids were home in pm and once they were in bed it was turned off downstairs and I sat with a blanket and a hot water bottle downstairs. Didnt think that they should stop the gas and electricity adverts then either, it wouldnt have affected my situation one jot.

Yes there are people struggling but stopping advertising food isnt going to change that.

There are toy adverts on every ad break between now and Xmas but my kids know that there is a budget and they dont expect to get everything they would like so they chose specific things. Its no different.

Its very sad that people are relying on food banks, yes the whole system is a mess and should be sorted out so people can have a living wage and pay their way but Xmas adverts arent going to make one bit of difference either way. its crap that people are having to struggle to pay for heating or food but its nobodys fault but the 'system', nobody in gov is struggling to heat their house, being sanctioned for being too ill to work, going to food banks etc etc so they dont give.