political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Friday, March 23, 2007
Prepare to Shed a Tear
I don't know if this actually happened or was staged. But the fact of the matter is I can imagine it happening at a US airport. Sadly I am not so sure if it would happen here.
I saw this around a year ago, possibly on LGF and at that time, it wasn't endorsed by a brewery or any other commercial enterprise.
It may have been semi-staged; I don't know. But certainly, Dizzy, this could happen spontaneously in the US. In fact, it may be that it did happen spontaneously and someone who was there rang a TV station to report it, and it got re-enacted.
Why shouldn't the female soldiers be well made-up? They were coming home to see their families and boyfriends.
lots of different camera angles for it to be spontaneous.
Irrespective of that - I think you are right - some in this country don't value what our servicemen and women do. But then if you look back at America's involvement in other conflicts - such as Vietnam, the returning veterans weren't always treated with such respect by those against the war
At the end of one cut of 'Jarhead' there's a section where a Viet vet tags along for the homecoming from Gulf War 1 because he never experienced the cheers.
When I came back on leave and travelled in uniform on the Tube (no chance to change on the train -damn those toilet-free shuttles) people just ignored me.
It doesn't matter if it would happen or has happened.
Most ordinary people, including me, respect the work of the armed services and the very real bravery and sacrifice they make.
Perhaps we are less demonstrative but we also have poppy day. I am very against the present war in Iraq but I would not miss standing up to observe the minutes silence.
However, presently we need Thatcher back, pronto. Fifteen of our people have been captured and gun point by Iranian armed services.
The message must be clear: return them or face the consequences.
I think respect for our Services is just shown in a different manner here. Patriotism in the US runs very close to the surface, & such a strong emotion reveals itself very easily.
There's a feature in Disney called the "Hall of the Presidents". Not much in itself, but in usual Disney fashion, you have to wait to get in. While waiting, we were presented, by a troupe of players in period costume, with a history of the genesis of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, finishing with an a capella rendition. Not a dry eye in the house, and even this cynical Englishman was drawn in.
It's a different country, despite our ties to it.wnn
Keir Hardie - did you read the comments of others before racing in with your self-important bile?
I wrote that I first saw this film a year ago and it wasn't sponsored by a commercial enterprise at that time. Anheuser-Busch may have paid for the right to endorse it since then, but the original film was not a commercial.
Can you understand that?
I suspect it came about in the way I suggested. It was a spontaneous happening; someone who was present called a TV station to report it and someone at the TV station - or, more likely, the network, got the idea to re-enact it.
Except for the inevitable lunatic fringe, which obviously includes you in the English chapel, Mr Hardie, Americans are very supportive of their armed forces. That's why John Kerry had to twist himself into a pretzel when he was running for president.
It does happen here. Remember the return of the task force from the Falklands ? People lining the roads to catch a glimpse of a bus carrying paratroops from Iraq ? It is only the government that is ashamed of our army and tries to avoid them - especially if they come back in a coffin.
im a little lost as to how soldiers coming back from iraq are risking their lives on our behalf? i feel sorry for them being conned into having put themselves into harms way for risking lives NOT on our behalf. that footage is totally staged, see them all striding in slow mo with heroic poses towards the camera when in reality they will be breaking down and crying at the pleasure of being home whilst their families are mobbing them.
Come on Iain, how many seperate camera angles do you need with perfect lighting and the first person who leads the clapping caught at the exact moment. Its called propaganda.
The American public and President only like shots of young healthy servicemen, not ones in body bags, mutilated and brain damaged.
Iain, when you announced you were going to watch two extended ads for and against global warming and then invite some 'experts' to do the same, I realised you do not have a clue how to differentiate fact from fiction, and worryingly might not even care as long as the narrative is compelling. Anheuser-Busch is a major contributor to jewish charities. Get it?
Verity accusing someone of "self-important bile"? What next? Bush slams warmongers? Galloway trashs terror apologists? Frank Lampard in "fat bastard" jibe?
That is the most repulsive thing I have ever seen I say that as an ex soldier. How fucking dare a beer company trade on the deaths of thousands of men and women serving their country and dress their advert up as a "backing our boys" You must be fucking mad to see that as patriotic , its exploitation of the basest kind. moron
A very brave anonymous writes: "im a little lost as to how soldiers coming back from iraq are risking their lives on our behalf?"
Um, stabilising the ME? Spreading the idea among citizens of Arab dictatorships (yes, Saudi Arabia and Syria, I'm looking at you)that democracy is achievable? (Because footage from Iraq routinely has women driving cars as though that is a perfectly normal thing for a woman to do, Saudi Arabia has been forced to reverse itself and give women permission to drive FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.) To stabilise the oil supply for our industries?
Beau Bo d'Or - once again: It didn't start out as a commercial. Do any of you people read the comments of others? The Hitch: that goes for you, too.
Forthurst - It's a conspiracy!!!!!!! It's a worldwide Zionist conspiracy! It's OBVIOUS!!!! Thank God you uncovered the evidence!!!!!!
so verity why is this jewish beer company let me stop myself as I foam at the keyboard I dont care what religion its owners practise Tacking its name onto that so obviously seet piece trade on patriotism????????
Verity, Verity, Verity - you should have known from the start it was a worldwide Zionist conspiracy.
In the world that some of these people live in its always a worldwide Zionist conspiracy. How we get through the day without being blocked at every turn by the mass numbers of worldwide Zionist conspirators is beyond me.
Oh come on Iain. Can't you see this advert for the vile piece of corporate chuff that it is? I wretched so hard I almost hocked up my pelvis.
Do you really think the millions of us opposed to this war actively despise our armed forces? More so than our political leaders who send them to their deaths? For a war even the most purblind can see has become a disaster? Should I wipe a tear from a moist eye and would it help ameliorate your shame for your fellow countrymen? Do you think this kind of blind patriotism has helped or hindered the American public?
Louise - You are right. I just went out to the local beer shop to buy a diet Coke and I could tell from the way the man behind the counter said "nueve pesos" that he was in the pocket of the Zionists! All these people ever think about is money!
The advert was 'staged' - in that it was a set up for the filming of the commercial, although all the troops were serving or recently retired.
That sort of welcome does happen - try being at Dallas - Fort Worth when a trooping flight lands.
Anheuser Busch do give a lot of support to US servicemen, they have a scholarship fund for the kids of servicemen killed in Iraq and give free days out to servicemen and their families at their theme parks.
As an ex UK servicemen, the support shown to the Yanks by their countrymen and corporations is something that the UK could well emulate.
Stuff like this happens at Dallas/Forth airport, I've seen it myself. Also, people pick up the tab for servicemen having snacks, donate their upgrades, give up their seats and so on.
Iain, I'm not sick. The people who are sick are those who believe that it is morally just to put our armed forces in harm's way for a pack of lies and thirty pieces of silver. Actually, some of these people have their own moral code which specifically permits this exploitation.
Wrinkled Weasel- damn right we need her back today!
As for "The Hitch", before you get carried away puling rank, I was enlisted in the Navy and I loved the clip. Sorry you never got your clap. Me neither. But I don't begrudge a well earned clap to people who have volunteered knowing they will go to war. So it is poetic licence- so what. It captures how many of us feel.
dont attack verity attack the advert these scum may give money to charity , as do I I on the other hand dont try and make money out of my gifts That whole thing stinks I would rather drink my own piss before i buy another bud I intend to put this on arrse
kris I most certainly do not begrudge them a round of applause , I begrudge some fucking shyster earning money off the back of them. I should probably also stop gobbing off on the internet and thinking that the odd cheque in the post is enough.
OK,chaps and chapesses, I just called Anheuser-Busch HQ and asked what the deal is. Here it is from the Clydesdale's mouth (Americans will understand the allusion):
This was produced as a "commercial", although it wasn't pushing any product, for airing during the Superbowl in 2005. It only ran during the Superbowl and never again.
Although it had a small anheuser-busch tag at the very end,that was the only commercial mention. There was no voice over. It was made as a tribute to America's armed forces and the people who you see in the commercial were all currently-serving armed forces personnel, and they had all served overseas.
The commercial was retired after that showing although Anheuser-Busch has heard it's now floating around on the internet.
Anyone who has ever lived through a Superbowl Sunday will be aware of what a patriotismfest it is. And I mean that in a nice way.
Like Tory Radio says, the productions to slick for it to be spontaneous. That being said the Americans do actually appreciate what their troops do. Can you imagine a British company putting out an advert thanking British soldiers?
Hell, friends of mine in the services (ours not theirs) say they got more respect from civilians in the States when they walked out in uniform than they ever got back in Britain. And that was years before 9/11 and Iraq (one or two).
Thank you for highlighting this Iain. There's another angle - Budweiser clearly believes that it's in its commercial interests to associate itself with soldiers returning from active service abroad. Would any company in this country come to the same conclusion?
It happens quite a lot in the US (and even beyond). In fact an American friend of mine was part of a huge round of applause for some American servicemen flying out to Iraq from Shannon in Ireland.
I like the piece. It's not a blatant, in-your-face advert for Budweiser, is it? I wouldn't have even recognised the logo at the end if I hadn't been told. I think it would have been in slightly bad taste had it shown the soldiers all clutching bottles of that ghastly brew. Could such a scene happen here? I don't know. I would be prepared to start the clapping, I know that much.
I remember being at JFK airport when a sizable number of US Armed Forces personnel were milling about in the shop section (I'm 90% certain they were going to Iraq)
They didn't get any standing ovations but from what I gathered through a bit of eavesdropping one of them had been told off for taking pics of the NY skyline in case they got into the wrong hands in the combat zone. This was in 2002.
Seemed a bit OTT to me and they were all having a laugh about it as well.
So troops can't wear their uniforms in British airports. Bossy Britain. In America, you can see service people in airports and various places. They have a presence in the woof and warp of American life.
So you couldn't make a British version. In any event, even if there were troops in uniform - which their cannot be - and someone started clapping, the ever-hostile, ever-ready-to-sneer British would look at one another and think, "How ghastly." Or an even worse insult: "How American."
Kafka said... I think respect for our Services is just shown in a different manner here.
You're right. Let me tell you how one of my beloved grandmothers - a little lavender and lace English lady from Tolleshunt Knights in deepest Essex - celebrated VE Day.
She was a lifelong gambler and her great love in life was a flutter on the gee gees.
In a photo I have of VE Day - a street party, houses swathed in bunting, people dancing in the street, kids stuffing their faces - where's my granma? Sitting on a wall studying the form. That was her English way of celebrating :)
It is unlikely this would happen here, and that is where the problem lies. In America, you are regarded as a hero if you serve in the military, but here you are just another annoying squaddie. I teach our young soldiers how to drive. They feel the same way as I do. It really is a sad state of affairs.
Rush Is Right says: "But here in Britain, we're just too sophisticated, too nuanced, too browbeaten by years of propaganda from the BBC to behave like that."
Quite. Britain is a beaten dog. Supine. Wanting to please its masters.
The Americans are confident in their country and love it. Which is why the average American has such admiration for the people who are defending it for him and his family.
I remember the video from the Superbowl, but it does happen all the time. (I'm a Captain, U.S. Army).
What I find particularly touching is the bond that seems to exist with older WWII vets, some so old they are in wheelchairs, being pushed by a son or daughter down the terminal. They wear their VFW hats and when they meet your eyes, there is always a small silent nod. A very classy generation of folks.
This following is a gross generalization, so I hope my sane liberal friends will forgive me. In general, the left says it 'supports the troops' but it's always in a backhanded manner. Usually, they pull the patronizing 'bring our boys home' and the ever popular 'poor, dumb minorities forced to volunteer because he/she had no choices in life' myth as typified by John Kerry's remarks. [The military is actually made up middle class suburbia and has a higher percentage of college graduates then the population at large - in the US or UK.]
These slogans are just the usual socialist bilge (both are used to diminish an individual's ability to make a choice so they can be saved by 'smart' liberals). The first suggests that a 24 y.o. soldier is a 'kid' (and yet, a 24 y.o. Monica Lewinsky is a consenting adult). The latter is a catch all that explains all of the world's ills from criminals, drug abusers, and jihadists to Zimbabwean dictators.
At any rate, for some, the facade is starting to crack:
Did you see that I called Anheuser-Busch and asked for the history of this video?
Did you read that it was made to be shown only on Superbowl Sunday in 2005?
Did you read that all the people in uniform in the video were REAL, CURRENTLY SERVING MEMBERS OF THE U.S. ARMED FORCES, AND THAT THEY HAD ALL SERVED OVERSEAS?
Why are some people so stupid? It just drives me crazy.
The fellow I talked to at Anheuser-Busch was not what I would call an official spokesman. He was just on the enquiry desk and he remembered that they had made the video specifically for the Superbowl in 2005. To his recollection, it hadn't been played since.
Don't say Anheuser-Busch were lying. It is this guy's job to answer questions about products, and he suddenly gets hit by someone with a British accent (I sound British to Americans) saying the video's running on a blog in England and asking questions. He wasn't lying. He was answering a suprise question to the best of his recollection. It wasn't as though he were a press officer answering a media enquiry.
Quite moving if it did happen, and I can imagine it happening in the US. The female soldiers are very well made up though.
ReplyDeleteI saw this around a year ago, possibly on LGF and at that time, it wasn't endorsed by a brewery or any other commercial enterprise.
ReplyDeleteIt may have been semi-staged; I don't know. But certainly, Dizzy, this could happen spontaneously in the US. In fact, it may be that it did happen spontaneously and someone who was there rang a TV station to report it, and it got re-enacted.
Why shouldn't the female soldiers be well made-up? They were coming home to see their families and boyfriends.
lots of different camera angles for it to be spontaneous.
ReplyDeleteIrrespective of that - I think you are right - some in this country don't value what our servicemen and women do. But then if you look back at America's involvement in other conflicts - such as Vietnam, the returning veterans weren't always treated with such respect by those against the war
You don't know if this actuallyhappened or if it was staged??
ReplyDeleteActually there are a group of volunteers that welcome home US troops at aisports .. but come on!
At the end of one cut of 'Jarhead' there's a section where a Viet vet tags along for the homecoming from Gulf War 1 because he never experienced the cheers.
ReplyDeleteWhen I came back on leave and travelled in uniform on the Tube (no chance to change on the train -damn those toilet-free shuttles) people just ignored me.
ReplyDeleteProbably thought I'd come back from a Rave.
According to some of the comments on the you tube page for this some soldiers have been welcomed home taht way in the US.
ReplyDeleteMy wife was welcomed home in that way when she returned from serving in Iraq in 2004. So it does happen, it's just not filmed and broadcast!
ReplyDeleteIt's an advert and you're wondering whether it happened or not?
ReplyDeleteDo you honestly think film crews routinely sit around airports waiting for something suitable to happen.
And you want to run the country. Are you nuts, gullible or both?
It doesn't matter if it would happen or has happened.
ReplyDeleteMost ordinary people, including me, respect the work of the armed services and the very real bravery and sacrifice they make.
Perhaps we are less demonstrative but we also have poppy day. I am very against the present war in Iraq but I would not miss standing up to observe the minutes silence.
However, presently we need Thatcher back, pronto. Fifteen of our people have been captured and gun point by Iranian armed services.
The message must be clear: return them or face the consequences.
No, but I have respect for people who risk their lives on our behalf.
ReplyDeleteI think respect for our Services is just shown in a different manner here. Patriotism in the US runs very close to the surface, & such a strong emotion reveals itself very easily.
ReplyDeleteThere's a feature in Disney called the "Hall of the Presidents". Not much in itself, but in usual Disney fashion, you have to wait to get in. While waiting, we were presented, by a troupe of players in period costume, with a history of the genesis of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, finishing with an a capella rendition. Not a dry eye in the house, and even this cynical Englishman was drawn in.
It's a different country, despite our ties to it.wnn
Surely "Prepare to Buy a Beer" ??
ReplyDeleteKeir Hardie - did you read the comments of others before racing in with your self-important bile?
ReplyDeleteI wrote that I first saw this film a year ago and it wasn't sponsored by a commercial enterprise at that time. Anheuser-Busch may have paid for the right to endorse it since then, but the original film was not a commercial.
Can you understand that?
I suspect it came about in the way I suggested. It was a spontaneous happening; someone who was present called a TV station to report it and someone at the TV station - or, more likely, the network, got the idea to re-enact it.
Except for the inevitable lunatic fringe, which obviously includes you in the English chapel, Mr Hardie, Americans are very supportive of their armed forces. That's why John Kerry had to twist himself into a pretzel when he was running for president.
What about those that ain't coming home ?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediaplayer.telegraph.co.uk/?item=16D29B4F-4B52-44F4-BFAB-A0A82DA2160E#
This is far more likely to make you cry than that schmaltzy American crap.
It does happen here. Remember the return of the task force from the Falklands ? People lining the roads to catch a glimpse of a bus carrying paratroops from Iraq ? It is only the government that is ashamed of our army and tries to avoid them - especially if they come back in a coffin.
ReplyDeleteim a little lost as to how soldiers coming back from iraq are risking their lives on our behalf? i feel sorry for them being conned into having put themselves into harms way for risking lives NOT on our behalf.
ReplyDeletethat footage is totally staged, see them all striding in slow mo with heroic poses towards the camera when in reality they will be breaking down and crying at the pleasure of being home whilst their families are mobbing them.
Come on Iain, how many seperate camera angles do you need with perfect lighting and the first person who leads the clapping caught at the exact moment. Its called propaganda.
ReplyDeleteThe American public and President only like shots of young healthy servicemen, not ones in body bags, mutilated and brain damaged.
Sometimes I am ashamed of my fellow countryman. Some of the comments on this thread illustrate why.
ReplyDeleteIain might I point you towards this article
ReplyDeleteMinisters finally admit full scale of war casualties
Iain, when you announced you were going to watch two extended ads for and against global warming and then invite some 'experts' to do the same, I realised you do not have a clue how to differentiate fact from fiction, and worryingly might not even care as long as the narrative is compelling.
ReplyDeleteAnheuser-Busch is a major contributor to jewish charities.
Get it?
Verity accusing someone of "self-important bile"? What next? Bush slams warmongers? Galloway trashs terror apologists? Frank Lampard in "fat bastard" jibe?
ReplyDeleteGet a grip.
That is the most repulsive thing I have ever seen
ReplyDeleteI say that as an ex soldier.
How fucking dare a beer company trade on the deaths of thousands of men and women serving their country and dress their advert up as a "backing our boys"
You must be fucking mad to see that as patriotic , its exploitation of the basest kind.
moron
Fothurst
ReplyDeleteYou are sick.
A very brave anonymous writes: "im a little lost as to how soldiers coming back from iraq are risking their lives on our behalf?"
ReplyDeleteUm, stabilising the ME? Spreading the idea among citizens of Arab dictatorships (yes, Saudi Arabia and Syria, I'm looking at you)that democracy is achievable? (Because footage from Iraq routinely has women driving cars as though that is a perfectly normal thing for a woman to do, Saudi Arabia has been forced to reverse itself and give women permission to drive FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.) To stabilise the oil supply for our industries?
Beau Bo d'Or - once again: It didn't start out as a commercial. Do any of you people read the comments of others? The Hitch: that goes for you, too.
Forthurst - It's a conspiracy!!!!!!! It's a worldwide Zionist conspiracy! It's OBVIOUS!!!! Thank God you uncovered the evidence!!!!!!
Anonymous 3:57 Who is Frank Lampard?
My God, I'm crying like a little girl, even if it probably was just an add...
ReplyDeleteso verity why is this jewish beer company
ReplyDeletelet me stop myself as I foam at the keyboard
I dont care what religion its owners practise
Tacking its name onto that so obviously seet piece trade on patriotism????????
Hitch - thank you. Verity - go drown in shmalz, or better still, slurry.
ReplyDeleteVerity, Verity, Verity - you should have known from the start it was a worldwide Zionist conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteIn the world that some of these people live in its always a worldwide Zionist conspiracy. How we get through the day without being blocked at every turn by the mass numbers of worldwide Zionist conspirators is beyond me.
Hope you remember that next time.
Oh come on Iain. Can't you see this advert for the vile piece of corporate chuff that it is? I wretched so hard I almost hocked up my pelvis.
ReplyDeleteDo you really think the millions of us opposed to this war actively despise our armed forces? More so than our political leaders who send them to their deaths? For a war even the most purblind can see has become a disaster? Should I wipe a tear from a moist eye and would it help ameliorate your shame for your fellow countrymen? Do you think this kind of blind patriotism has helped or hindered the American public?
This advert is in staggeringly bad taste.
Louise - You are right. I just went out to the local beer shop to buy a diet Coke and I could tell from the way the man behind the counter said "nueve pesos" that he was in the pocket of the Zionists! All these people ever think about is money!
ReplyDeleteThe advert was 'staged' - in that it was a set up for the filming of the commercial, although all the troops were serving or recently retired.
ReplyDeleteThat sort of welcome does happen - try being at Dallas - Fort Worth when a trooping flight lands.
Anheuser Busch do give a lot of support to US servicemen, they have a scholarship fund for the kids of servicemen killed in Iraq and give free days out to servicemen and their families at their theme parks.
As an ex UK servicemen, the support shown to the Yanks by their countrymen and corporations is something that the UK could well emulate.
The advert is in good taste, but it's obviously staged.
ReplyDeleteThese are the volunteers I was talking about earlier...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3K9-i0IOeY
Stuff like this happens at Dallas/Forth airport, I've seen it myself. Also, people pick up the tab for servicemen having snacks, donate their upgrades, give up their seats and so on.
ReplyDeleteIain, I'm not sick.
ReplyDeleteThe people who are sick are those who believe that it is morally just to put our armed forces in harm's way for a pack of lies and thirty pieces of silver.
Actually, some of these people have their own moral code which specifically permits this exploitation.
Wrinkled Weasel- damn right we need her back today!
ReplyDeleteAs for "The Hitch", before you get carried away puling rank, I was enlisted in the Navy and I loved the clip. Sorry you never got your clap. Me neither. But I don't begrudge a well earned clap to people who have volunteered knowing they will go to war. So it is poetic licence- so what. It captures how many of us feel.
You think actors risk their lives for their country?
ReplyDeletedont attack verity
ReplyDeleteattack the advert
these scum may give money to charity , as do I
I on the other hand dont try and make money out of my gifts
That whole thing stinks I would rather drink my own piss before i buy another bud
I intend to put this on arrse
kris
ReplyDeleteI most certainly do not begrudge them a round of applause , I begrudge some fucking shyster earning money off the back of them.
I should probably also stop gobbing off on the internet and thinking that the odd cheque in the post is enough.
OK,chaps and chapesses, I just called Anheuser-Busch HQ and asked what the deal is. Here it is from the Clydesdale's mouth (Americans will understand the allusion):
ReplyDeleteThis was produced as a "commercial", although it wasn't pushing any product, for airing during the Superbowl in 2005. It only ran during the Superbowl and never again.
Although it had a small anheuser-busch tag at the very end,that was the only commercial mention. There was no voice over. It was made as a tribute to America's armed forces and the people who you see in the commercial were all currently-serving armed forces personnel, and they had all served overseas.
The commercial was retired after that showing although Anheuser-Busch has heard it's now floating around on the internet.
Anyone who has ever lived through a Superbowl Sunday will be aware of what a patriotismfest it is. And I mean that in a nice way.
Like Tory Radio says, the productions to slick for it to be spontaneous. That being said the Americans do actually appreciate what their troops do. Can you imagine a British company putting out an advert thanking British soldiers?
ReplyDeleteHell, friends of mine in the services (ours not theirs) say they got more respect from civilians in the States when they walked out in uniform than they ever got back in Britain. And that was years before 9/11 and Iraq (one or two).
Just while we're on the subject, can we clear up whether Lord of the Rings was staged or not?
ReplyDeleteThank you for highlighting this Iain. There's another angle - Budweiser clearly believes that it's in its commercial interests to associate itself with soldiers returning from active service abroad. Would any company in this country come to the same conclusion?
ReplyDeleteIt happens quite a lot in the US (and even beyond). In fact an American friend of mine was part of a huge round of applause for some American servicemen flying out to Iraq from Shannon in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteI like the piece.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a blatant, in-your-face advert for Budweiser, is it? I wouldn't have even recognised the logo at the end if I hadn't been told. I think it would have been in slightly bad taste had it shown the soldiers all clutching bottles of that ghastly brew.
Could such a scene happen here? I don't know. I would be prepared to start the clapping, I know that much.
Iain Dale said...
ReplyDeleteNo, but I have respect for people who risk their lives on our behalf.
Why not make a UK version then? Time better spent than Macavity I think, and a lot more likely to generate publicity.
^^ positive publicity I hope
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the UK airports do not allow troops to wear uniforms
ReplyDeleteI remember being at JFK airport when a sizable number of US Armed Forces personnel were milling about in the shop section (I'm 90% certain they were going to Iraq)
ReplyDeleteThey didn't get any standing ovations but from what I gathered through a bit of eavesdropping one of them had been told off for taking pics of the NY skyline in case they got into the wrong hands in the combat zone. This was in 2002.
Seemed a bit OTT to me and they were all having a laugh about it as well.
So troops can't wear their uniforms in British airports. Bossy Britain. In America, you can see service people in airports and various places. They have a presence in the woof and warp of American life.
ReplyDeleteSo you couldn't make a British version. In any event, even if there were troops in uniform - which their cannot be - and someone started clapping, the ever-hostile, ever-ready-to-sneer British would look at one another and think, "How ghastly." Or an even worse insult: "How American."
It is a mean-spirited country.
did you mean prepare to barf? I think you meant prepare to barf.
ReplyDeleteKafka said...
ReplyDeleteI think respect for our Services is just shown in a different manner here.
You're right. Let me tell you how one of my beloved grandmothers - a little lavender and lace English lady from Tolleshunt Knights in deepest Essex - celebrated VE Day.
She was a lifelong gambler and her great love in life was a flutter on the gee gees.
In a photo I have of VE Day - a street party, houses swathed in bunting, people dancing in the street, kids stuffing their faces - where's my granma? Sitting on a wall studying the form. That was her English way of celebrating :)
It is unlikely this would happen here, and that is where the problem lies. In America, you are regarded as a hero if you serve in the military, but here you are just another annoying squaddie. I teach our young soldiers how to drive. They feel the same way as I do. It really is a sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteJust what would be the point of producing a commercial that did not resonate with a sympathetic chord in the intended audience?
ReplyDeleteI think Iain's point was that in the USA the armed services are respected in a way that they are not in this country.
It goes back a long way. Kipling wrote about it. "And it's 'thank you Mr Atkins' when there's fighting to be done"
As the father of two fighting officers in the British services, (and even if I were not) I entirely support applauding our boys returning from combat.
But here in Britain, we're just too sophisticated, too nuanced, too browbeaten by years of propaganda from the BBC to behave like that.
Rush Is Right says: "But here in Britain, we're just too sophisticated, too nuanced, too browbeaten by years of propaganda from the BBC to behave like that."
ReplyDeleteQuite. Britain is a beaten dog. Supine. Wanting to please its masters.
The Americans are confident in their country and love it. Which is why the average American has such admiration for the people who are defending it for him and his family.
I remember the video from the Superbowl, but it does happen all the time. (I'm a Captain, U.S. Army).
ReplyDeleteWhat I find particularly touching is the bond that seems to exist with older WWII vets, some so old they are in wheelchairs, being pushed by a son or daughter down the terminal. They wear their VFW hats and when they meet your eyes, there is always a small silent nod. A very classy generation of folks.
This following is a gross generalization, so I hope my sane liberal friends will forgive me. In general, the left says it 'supports the troops' but it's always in a backhanded manner. Usually, they pull the patronizing 'bring our boys home' and the ever popular 'poor, dumb minorities forced to volunteer because he/she had no choices in life' myth as typified by John Kerry's remarks. [The military is actually made up middle class suburbia and has a higher percentage of college graduates then the population at large - in the US or UK.]
These slogans are just the usual socialist bilge (both are used to diminish an individual's ability to make a choice so they can be saved by 'smart' liberals). The first suggests that a 24 y.o. soldier is a 'kid' (and yet, a 24 y.o. Monica Lewinsky is a consenting adult). The latter is a catch all that explains all of the world's ills from criminals, drug abusers, and jihadists to Zimbabwean dictators.
At any rate, for some, the facade is starting to crack:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24900_Video-_Portland_Anarchists_Burning_US_Soldier_in_Effigy&only
it is beautiful, thanks. and im sure it does happen from time to time.
ReplyDeletewith regards to this footage, though, you can clearly see that the uniforms are totally unmarked. so i guess those aren't even soldiers, just actors
nullo - as in nullo pointos - can you read?
ReplyDeleteDid you see that I called Anheuser-Busch and asked for the history of this video?
Did you read that it was made to be shown only on Superbowl Sunday in 2005?
Did you read that all the people in uniform in the video were REAL, CURRENTLY SERVING MEMBERS OF THE U.S. ARMED FORCES, AND THAT THEY HAD ALL SERVED OVERSEAS?
Why are some people so stupid? It just drives me crazy.
Anheuser-Busch are lying.
ReplyDeleteI saw it in May 2005 at San Diego Sea World. It was Memorial Weekend and Anheuser-Busch are one of Sea World's major sponsors.
When the video was played the crowd (waiting for Shamu) stood up and applauded.
That made me feel sick.
The fellow I talked to at Anheuser-Busch was not what I would call an official spokesman. He was just on the enquiry desk and he remembered that they had made the video specifically for the Superbowl in 2005. To his recollection, it hadn't been played since.
ReplyDeleteDon't say Anheuser-Busch were lying. It is this guy's job to answer questions about products, and he suddenly gets hit by someone with a British accent (I sound British to Americans) saying the video's running on a blog in England and asking questions. He wasn't lying. He was answering a suprise question to the best of his recollection. It wasn't as though he were a press officer answering a media enquiry.
I'm glad to hear they clapped at Sea World.
Although I don't agree with the war I do support our troops.
ReplyDeleteI'm now going out to buy a Budweiser.
The power of advertising...
You know that Anheuser-Busch own Sea World?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.4adventure.com/home.aspx
"Anónimo dijo...
ReplyDeleteYou know that Anheuser-Busch own Sea World?"
And ... uh ... this is sinister or something? Why shouldn't they own Sea World?