Monday, November 17, 2014

100 years ago, it was kind of like this



From Adweek: Sainsbury's Recreates Famous 1914 Christmas Truce in Stunning New Ad

the film really is stunning—it's as cinematic as any war movie, rich and evocative and entirely believable. The story, which Sainsbury's calls a "creative interpretation" of the events, shows a young British soldier who—as the enemies hear each other singing "Silent Night"—ventures into No Man's Land and offers friendship, and a football match, to the other side....Sainsbury's and the Royal British Legion tried to make the details as authentic as possible. They based it on original reports and letters from the time, and worked with historians throughout the process.

Yes, it's an advertisement. But thank God for the individuals with the funding and the creative genius to bring off this kind of historical moment.

HT: Tony Phelps

1 comment:

  1. Back in the day there was a kind of battlefield honor. It extended even through the Cold War among Europeans and Americans. I don't know to what extent is is practiced today. The scene in The Hunt For Red October, where the Americans first arrive on the Red October and Jack Ryan begs a cigarette from the Russian engineer, speaks of an example of how it works. Cigarettes were common tokens of peace and were exchanged between enemy soldiers as a sign of a temporary, localized truce. When I was in the Marines, my unit met members of the Red Army who were being quartered on our base as part of some official capacity. We were to meet them in full dress uniform for a brief, cordial welcome. That evening, the men in my unit filled a garbage cane with ice and beer, and took it and a couple of cases of cigarettes to where they were being quartered. The guards enjoyed some tokens from our gifts and let us in. We exchanged cigarettes and sat down for some casual conversation with them. The KGB apparently had no problem with it at that time. It's not what you'd call a Christian mission trip, but it shows that there was a sense of honor and mutual respect among warriors that is often misunderstood. It also shows how brutally dishonorable some were, especially in Asia and the Middle East, and have been today in armed conflict.

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