Sainsbury’s – Trying Something New For 140 Years

Gordon

Said on the 12 May 2009

I’d sue if I was Hovis! Unless it’s the same advertising company shamelessly recycling it’s own ideas.

I’d also forgotten how friendly, innovative and caring Sainsbury’s are. They should film an advert in my local store – it really is the shop that customer service forgot, badly stocked and staffed by the ignorant, rude and thick.

James I

Said on the 12 May 2009

I have it on good authority that Marks and Sparks are planning to release an ad within the next few weeks detailing their history over the last 100+ years…

HolaCow

Said on the 12 May 2009

Wow, Sainsbury’s is great!
They paved the way for social reforms, environmental protection, new culinary genre and fair trade.
Just minutes ago while looking through my history books, I saw that it was solely Sainsbury’s that was responsible for all the things listed in that phenomenal piece of advertising genius and no one and nothing else.
I raise my glass to Sainsbury’s and now I shall try to forget all the times I’ve been in one and found nothing but high priced crap, poorly stocked shelves and like Gordon said, “the shop that customer service forgot”.

Steven

Said on the 12 May 2009

I’m glad this advert is up here as it pisses me off incredibly with its wilful deception. Here’s a list attacking their ‘firsts’.

1869 – (Made good food affordable to all) So poor people ate rats in all human history prior then? As they only had a single store at the time, it wasn’t ‘to all’ either. Both claims are bollocks.

1914 – (First employed women) LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DID due to the labour shortages of the First World War, not anything to do with progressive social policies AND ONLY BECAUSE YOU HAD TO

1944 – (Halved our labels to save resources) LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DID due to paper shortages due to the Second World War, not anything to do with progressive environmental polices AND ONLY BECAUSE YOU HAD TO. Also it took them until the very end to do it, and doubtless the packaging went right back up again after.

1962 – (Introduced the Avocado Pear) I seriously fucking doubt Sainsbury’s were the first retailer to carry Avocados in the UK, especially as they were first mentioned in England as far back as 1696. Only 266 years behind the curve!

1994 – (First supported Fairtrade) LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DID Fairtrade has been around since the 60s and in its modern form since the late 80s, so again, only 6 years behind the curve!

2007 – (Made re-usable bags sexy) Re-usable bags have been around a lot fucking longer than 2007, which is probably the saturation year where if your store didn’t carry them you were starting to look seriously behind the times. If I recall correctly, Sainsbury’s were one of the last major supermarkets to adopt them.

2009 – (All eggs from cage free hens) Aaaaand the circle is complete! Visually maybe (with the little twat eating his egg) but not literally. The reason other supermarkets continue to carry battery eggs is because they are cheaper for poorer families. As noble as going fully free range is, it makes a mockery of the 140 year old claim of “Making good food available to all”, but as only fat-tongued upper middle-class faux-mockneys like Jamie Oliver actually shop at Sainsbury’s, I doubt they give a shit about the proles outside of misleading adverts (because of course working class people only look cute in Victorian times, heaven forbid they show a kid in a run-down council estate eating an egg to make the visual synchronicity actually make sense)

So the moral is… SAINSBURY’S – BEHIND THE TIMES FOR 140 YEARS (AND ONLY ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING WHEN ABSOLUTELY FORCED TO EITHER BY WORLD WAR OR OVERWHELMING CONSUMER PRESSURE)

blibble

Said on the 13 May 2009

Steven, that’s amazing.

Steven

Said on the 13 May 2009

Thanks man, it just gets on my tits hugely when they try to claim credit for things that they were either actually the very last to do, or were forced by nothing less than a full blown world war, and even then not for the reasons they imply (their employment of women and reduction in packaging had absolutely nothing to do with progressive social or environmental policies and the packaging was actually will have increased again as soon as rationing stopped)

Every single thing in this advert (apart from the early foundation date) will equally apply to Tesco, M&S and Morrisons, except their competitors were probably a few years ahead of them in a lot of occurrences. Why they should be proud for taking FIVE YEARS into a world war to reduce their packaging (which was in fact mandated by government, not their choice) is beyond me.

The supposed synchronicity with the egg eating kid at the end (which is actually a complete 180 from their supposed roots with the middle-class kid eating an overpriced egg, which is all they now stock) is the piss-take icing on a bullshit cake.

cris

Said on the 14 May 2009

it’s only an advert isn’t it? – what do you expect them to say?

steven, sounds like you’re taking this a bit too much to heart

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 14 May 2009

Perfect post Steven. 1 internet for you.

Cris, you got lost in the tubes, either lurk more or fuck off

SpunkyMonkey

Said on the 14 May 2009

I shop at Sainsburys but that’s because the only other big supermarket is Asda, which is visited by chavs it would seem and is about as clean as a tramps underpants. Personally I couldn’t give a toss about their so-called ‘achievements’ over the last million years, quite rightly debunked by Steven. I just wish their prices were a bit bloody cheaper, although they do ‘price-match’ with Tescos on things like a tin of anchovies. F**king great. And don’t ‘price-match’, you money-grabbing bastards, make it cheaper then sodding Tescos, then you mght not have so many customers leaving in droves !

Archer

Said on the 14 May 2009

I’ve only just seen this advert. I don’t actually watch a lot of telly – so god knows why I post on here. But I agree with Steven… how is it something to be proud of employing women when all men were fighting a war??? That just sounds like a necessity.

Mind you… look at the fucking chavvy women they’re employing now. I’m thinking of the ‘look at me, I’m forty-two, I’ve got a family, but I’m stacking shelves too!’ campaign that they’re running alongside this one. You know, with her gurning friend who tries to pull Jamie Oliver over the couscous.

I’m a feminist but when I see that ad, I wonder if we all shouldn’t have stayed in the kitchen. World War I or no World War I.

Jellyfish McSaveloy

Said on the 15 May 2009

Gordon – you are quite right. My local Sainsburys is also woefully under-stocked and staffed by gormless incompetents with halitosis and chronic BO. Unfortunately the only local alternative is a Co-Op (not above suspicion themselves) or Waitrose (which I like but need to feel flush before I enter). This Sainsburys ad manages to overlook the years of well-documented general incompetence involved in their running (look back and see how many directors have been booted out for failing to meet promises on IT, logisitcs etc) and yet somehow their profits are increasing, possibly because they no longer seem to employ the bellend mockney tool.

Verdict: Knuckle gnawingly patronising and self-congratulatory and should be immediately consigned to the bin.

dawn

Said on the 15 May 2009

cris, i think you’ve missed the point of this website.
steven, yay you!

sarah

Said on the 16 May 2009

Steven, that’s the most erudite, concise, and illuminating post I’ve ever read, here or anywhere.

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 16 May 2009

More illuminating than a lamp post?!!

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 18 May 2009

Hang on a fucking minute!!! I just this minute saw an advert from Marks and Sparks that also claims they brought the avacado pear to Britain, how fucking many do we eat???

HolaCow

Said on the 19 May 2009

It must be quite a lot.
Just this evening I finished my advert showing that my ancestor, Captain Guac O’Mole was in fact the first person to ever bring avocados to the UK and promote their avocado goodness

Archer

Said on the 19 May 2009

But wikipedia tells me that the first ref to the avocado in the English language is 1696.

Weird that I have to list wikipedia, since I am actually a published medievalist. But maybe I’m just a clone. Maybe I’m just lying and if you found out the truth you’d hate me…

Doctor Whom

Said on the 21 May 2009

Actually, I think you’ll find that I introduced the avocado pear to the British Isles. Definitely me. Me me me me me. *sticks fingers in ears* la la la la la la la la

Luke

Said on the 23 May 2009

This shitty advert has been my introduction to this excellent site. You can imagine my delight at finding other people who also hate such patronising avertising. With this Sainsbury’s number, I especially dislike the needlessly emotive music; YOU’RE JUST A SUPERMARKET!

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 23 May 2009

I don’t care about anything else this ad shows now. Those kids need a fucking bath. Has anyone got Ian Huntley’s number?

Localshopper

Said on the 27 May 2009

It’s make up you thick tit. You should lighten up a bit it’s only an advert at the end of the day.

Unknown

Said on the 27 May 2009

That girl who it closes up to the avacardo is my friend woooo!

Andy

Said on the 27 May 2009

Hey Localshopper, was CovertJellyfish’s comment a bit too subtle for you? You might want to reconsider who the thick tit is.

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 27 May 2009

Wow, 4 days… I was expecting to be flamed well before that!!

R E Krishna

Said on the 28 May 2009

“it’s only an advert at the end of the day” Strictly speaking of course this statement is completely untrue, unless they choose to show it only at 23.59.

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 28 May 2009

And in our modern 24/7 lifestyle, where we can change our electricity/gas/internet/credit card/mortgage/bank/girlfriend/video collection/wardrobe/mirkin selection/mobile phone/STD at any time we want, can we truly say that there is an “at the end of the day”?

Who said I was only good for knob jokes? I’m a thinker I am!!

R E Krishna

Said on the 29 May 2009

Quite so, but you can’t really beat a good knob joke. “At the end of the day”.

CovertJellyfish

Said on the 29 May 2009

Oh I don’t know R E, a bottle of baby oil, a box of tissues, Hollyoaks video….

anothergordon

Said on the 18 June 2009

What are all those people doing hanging out at the Hampstead Lido in their swimming costumes in the middle of winter? Maybe those clever people who shoot ads don’t know that leaves fall off trees in winter.

Jason

Said on the 19 June 2009

There is a massive wave of these nostalgia based TV ads crashing over us poor viewers at the moment Hovis and Virgin Atlantic have done it well but the M&S one stinks. You can watch them all in one blog post http://tinyurl.com/lqkuu3

Neil

Said on the 21 June 2009

I know I’m a bit late coming up with this but I just feel that I HAVE to point this out…

SpunkyMonkey, old chap, are you not aware that it is Sainsbury’s high prices that keep out those distasteful “chavs” and prevent them from so distressing your grocery excursion with their dropped aitches and tendency to purchase goods labelled “Value” and “Basic” in their ugly packaging that just looks so out of place among the anchovy paste and own-brand champagne?

One has to *pay* for exclusivity, don’t you know…

SpunkyMonkey

Said on the 24 June 2009

Neil,

Yeah, I probably did sound pompous, but I swear to God that our local Asda IS swarming with chavs. I know that they are chavs because I couldn’t see any hired help accompanying them whatsoever. And, as you point out, they WERE buying ‘Basic’ labelled items ! One had to express outrage !

I went to Aldi for the first time yesterday, and despite the poor people cluttering up the aisles, I found their prices quite reasonable and I was able to buy quail a lot cheaper than Sainsburys. I was disappointed that they appeared to have ran out of fresh lobster though.

Bex

Said on the 29 June 2009

“Run out”, surely, if one is going to be all posh and grammatical?

SpunkyMonkey

Said on the 1 July 2009

Ahhhh, thank you Bex, my English Tutor at Eaton would be so disappointed with me !

uncle phil

Said on the 12 August 2009

Good ole sainsburys! Only took them a decade and a half into the 20th century and a World War to start them employing women.

However, on the plus side, puke envoking Jamie Oliver is not in this one.

Another Ad Hater

Said on the 13 August 2009

“However, on the plus side, puke envoking Jamie Oliver is not in this one.”

That is so true. Everytime I see ANY Sainsburys advert with Jamie Oliver in it, I’m shouting “FUCK OFF SAINSBURYS” at the TV as I really am getting sick of seeing this twat everytime and I really don’t care about his shitty programmes on Channel 4.
“Feed your family for a fiver?” How can you feed your entire family for £5?! Do you mean 5 people or something? What if your family is like 20 people? How could you feed them all for a fiver?

SpunkyMonkey

Said on the 24 August 2009

Well, dash it all ! I went into my local Aldi, and despite my earlier comment, confound it all if they didn’t have whole lobster available for five of Her Majesty’s pounds ! Obviously I purchased 1000 of them and threw them to the the poor people as I passed the local ASDA, bless their Burberry hats !

Another Ad Hater

Said on the 19 October 2009

Oh God, the latest Sainsbury’s adverts are complete and utter SHITE! I thought Jamie Oliver was annoying but this woman that they are using in their ads is beyond FUCKING IRRITATING!
The Sainsbury’s Finance ad is the one that is complete SHIT! Why does she let that guy buy some crappy CD just because she gets double Nectar points? What fucking good is that? Nectar points are shit and you get fuck all with them! So the most expensive things you can get from Nectar cost 5,300 points. What can you get for these points? A fucking Scrabble board game or a Nokia headset or Fisher Price walkie talkies.

2 Nectar points are gained from every £1 spent in Sainsbury’s so to get 5,300 points you’d have to spend £2,650 or £1,325 on that credit card! What the FUCK?! £2,650 for fucking SCRABBLE?!

Archer

Said on the 19 October 2009

I fucking hate the woman in these adverts. And her little dog too.

Rob

Said on the 8 March 2010

I wanna throw a brick at that bloke on the latest sainsburys advert. I mean he’s 18/19 and still gets his mum to buy his CD’s. Then he blasts the music out of the car to impress that shelf stacker girl. “I think she fancies me”. I think not you complete prat!

Ad Hater 2.0

Said on the 1 May 2010

The latest Sainsbury’s advert is shit. All we see is Jamie Oliver (yes that cunt is back again) walking through a field banging on about sausages for 50 FUCKING SECONDS! This ad is boring as hell, it’s a fucking waste of time and money. I just can’t believe that this twat is worth £65 million!

Nik