Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • 6

A6 5 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2014 JG-TC www.g-tteom Grocery chain's Christmas ad stirs tears, outrage Fall harvest complete in nearly central Illinois The Associated Press In this handout still Image of television advertisement, released by Sainsbury's on Tuesday, two actors dressed as British and German World War I soldiers shake hands. into plants with the disease and the yield-per-acre would drop to 50 bushels or so. Normally, you'd be happy to get 50 bushels of soybeans in an acre," said Mike Hoeft, who farms in the Delavan area. "The yields may be the best I've ever had. Of course, prices are down on the Board of Trade." Some farmers have been affected by a crop disease that has reduced yields in soybean fields across central Illinois.

"The com has been consistently good. On the soybean side, results have been good but we've seen some sudden-death syndrome," said Mike Schachtrup, a Peoria County farmer who tends to 6,000 acres in several neighboring counties. "I think this area and Springfield became ground zero for a lot of the sudden-death. On some of the flat, black soil, I think it was a case of too much moisture." Now that harvest season is nearly over, farmers in central Illinois are turning their focus to tillage work and fertilizing, according to Kirchhofer. PEORIA, DL (AP) A successful harvest season is wrapping up in central Illinois as farmers finish gathering their corn and soybean crops from the fields.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 94 percent of the state's com and 95 percent of soybean harvest had been completed as of Sunday. Although prices have fallen about $2 per bushel for both com and soybeans, experts and fanners alike agree that the yields have made this harvest a success, The (Peoria) Journal Star reported lylta6WGX). "This was a great year, one of the best on record with com yields over 200 bushels an acre," Peoria County Farm Bureau manager Patrick Kirchhofer said. The national yield average for com is 173.4 bushels per acre, while the soybeans are at 47.5 bushels an acre, according to the federal agency.

"We were seeing yields of more than 70 bushels an acre in some soybean fields. You'd run NMtttfifal but the John Lewis department store ad, which began five days before and features Monty the Penguin, has been shared some 776,000 times. Whether it proves a commercial success or not, the Sainsbury's strategy is getting attention. Robert Foley, a historian at King's College London, says that is because World War I was a formative experience for Britain. It marked the first mass mobilization of civilians.

With concerns about the futility of war and needless sacrifice being revisited, the Great War has been linked to contemporary conflicts, such as the war in Afghanistan, Foley said. People are remembering that these people died for a reason that each poppy in the moat represented a person. It's on everyone's mind. And now it's in a commercial. "This is all anybody's been talking about," Foley said.

"They have really touched a nerve in the British population." LONDON (AP) Artillery booms. A trench comes into view. Soldiers huddle into their overcoats for warmth. The scene is the unlikely backdrop for a holiday commercial that has many Britons reaching for hankies and others demanding it be pulled from the air. The 3-minute, 40-second mini-movie from the Sainsbury's grocery chain depicts the 1914 Christmas Truce, when soldiers stopped killing each other for a few hours to celebrate the holiday together in no man's land.

The commercial has sparked debate on whether it is appropriate for corporations to use sensitive national history for commercial use. The issue is all the more delicate as the country marks 100 years since World War I began a months-long national moment of soul searching highlighted by somber ceremonies, intense media coverage and crowded exhibitions. "It is a somewhat brave decision on the part of Sainsbury's," said Leslie Hallam, the course director of the psychology of advertising program at the University of Lancaster. Brave, that is, in the sense of it being risky. Big Christmas ads have become a tradition in Britain an opportunity for companies to pull out all the stops to woo holiday shoppers and stamp their brands firmly on the consumer brain.

These mini-blockbusters, similar to Super Bowl showstoppers in the United States, usually feature warm and fuzzy characters like lovestruck penguins and adorable children who reveal the true meaning of Christmas. They do not, in other words, normally take place in trenches. The commercial has sparked at least 240 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, which is considering an investigation after viewers objected to using the war to promote a company. While it's not the first time war has formed the backdrop for an ad, previous efforts tended to be light-hearted. Hallam finds the ad is inappropriate, like putting a brand name on a re-enactment of Princess Diana's funeral.

But its sheer beauty is what has its critics displeased. With the gore and rats of trench warfare from 1914-1918 firmly in mind, Manchester-based writer Ally Fogg wrote in a Guardian newspaper column that the ad was disrespectful as it offers a sanitized version of World War I. "Would we welcome an advert next Christmas showing a touching little scene between a Jewish child and a disabled child in Auschwitz, swapping gifts for Christmas and Hanu-kah on their way to the gas chambers?" he wrote. "I would hope not, yet I fail to see any great moral difference." Whatever its intention, Sainsbury's is tapping into the national mood. Interest in the war was evident this month when estimated 5 million people visited an exhibition of 888,246 ceramic poppies one for each British and Commonwealth soldier killed planted in the Tower of London's moat, creating a blood red tribute to the dead.

Sainsbury's worked closely with The Royal British Legion, a veterans' organization, and historians to ensure details were authentic. But this is a bloodless moment. The commercial features a dusting of snow and choruses of "Silent Night" in English and German. The landscape of war is transformed into an oasis of calm. The hero prop is a chocolate bar in bright blue wrapping a replica of which is being sold to benefit the legion.

It depicts a young British soldier named Jim, who ventures out of his trench and steps into no-man's land to shake hands with Otto, a German soldier of similar age. Their comrades follow, exchanging gifts, snapping pictures and playing an impromptu game of soccer. Historians have disputed some of the specifics of the events of the real life Christmas Truce. Recent scholarship suggests that rather than one event, there were a series of unofficial truces along the Western Front. Whatever the specifics, the idea of this heartwarming moment in the midst of absurdity is seared in the public mind.

Sainsbury's is unapologetic in the face of criticism. "This year, we wanted to tell this story of sharing the company said in a statement. "Working with The Royal British Legion, we have chosen to do this through the lens of one of the most extraordinary moments of sharing in modern history, when on Christmas Day 1914, British and German soldiers laid down their arms and came together to share a game of football." But it remains to be seen whether a connection has been made with shoppers whether they will buy their chocolate at their neighborhood Sainsbury's. Sarah Wood, the co-founder of Unruly, a marketing technology company, said her firm is tracking the number of times the Christmas advertisements have been shared on social media. So far, the more traditional commercial backdrop is beating World War I.

The Sainsbury's advertisement has been shared nearly 384,000 times, Tucker's Tree Farm A Family Tradition 217-234-2917 Hours: Fri-Sat-Sun to 4:30 pm WW FraserFirup to 14 Choose and Cut Trees I Live Due and Balled Trees Wreaths Garland and St -mi BSSSSSSBSSBBBS' Ha? V7 HsTY Baf Id! Bsf A I tfji! Grave Blankets Grave Pillows Gift Shop "2014 Healthgradei Analysis Staffed with top cardiologists, interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Attack for 6 years in a row Five-Star Recipient for Treatment of Heart Failure for 9 years in a row Named one of Healthgrades America's 100 Best Hospitals FOR EXPERT HEART CARE IN MATTOON-CHARLESTON, ASK YOUR DOCTOR TO REFER YOU TO CARLE. ONLY CARLE HELPS YOU BE GREAT. carle.org.