Marx and Spencer

Marks and Spencer, more than just a shop, a veritable British institution can usually expect to make a tidy profit at Christmas because folk like us like to spend our money there. Their displays of Christmas goods and, especially their food, are a joy to behold. Even without buying anything, a visit to M&S at Christmas usually lifts the spirits.

So what are they playing at with their abominable snowman of a Christmas advert for 2023? Packed with the usual unrepresentative display of ‘people of colour’ that we have come to expect in any advertising campaign, it features several celebs including Sophie Ellis-Bextor revolting against the Christmas spirit, burning Christmas cards and overturning games tables, much to everyone’s relief. The message is clear as a Santa doll gets batted off a rooftop. All that was missing was a scene with the three wise men overturning a crib with baby Jesus in it.

In producing such an advert M&S have shown utter contempt for their loyal customers. They are, in no uncertain terms, mocking them and trying to suggest that you are of a higher status if you eschew the Christmas spirit; rather than the ordinary folk who look forward to Christmas for a range of reasons such as seeing family and friends, spending time at home, and that old chestnut, religion. Whether one is in love with the Christian message or more inspired by a Dickensian view of Christmas, this is a major festival. Undermining it helps nobody and we can only live in hope that it harms the profits of M&S. I expect that mobs of angry Christians will be out rioting and looting in M&S stores over Christmas. That is, if the yoof mobs leave anything to be stolen.

Not content with poking fun at Christmas, M&S have released a preview of their Ramadan advert for 2024. It is not yet on general release, but your correspondent was invited to a preview at M&S HQ and can report on it. If you thought the Christmas advert was controversial, just wait until you see this one.

Ramadan, held around Spring each year depending on phases of the moon is the period of approximately one month when Muslims abstain from food, drink and sex between sunrise and sunset. After that they stuff themselves and, marriage vows permitting, each other.

M&S have taken a light-hearted view of Ramadan, and scenes include a woman who keeps a bag of biscuits under her Burka during the day and slips one into her mouth, hidden by her yashmak. She turns to the camera and winks. Next scene, and what do we have here? A bedroom door is pushed open only to reveal a writhing bundle of bodies beneath the sheets; Ahmed and Maryam are going at it like rabbits in the hours of daylight. They pull down the sheets, look up at the camera and wink. It’s hilarious.

The M&S production team were keen to know from the assembled journalists and others present whether the advert was likely to cause offence. Views differed around the room with some people clearly uncomfortable at the thought of all the M&S stores across the UK up in flames with angry mobs of jihadists on the rampage. Others could not believe that our Muslim cousins could behave in such a way. Islam, after all, was a religion of peace.

Also planned for preview soon and release in 2024 is the M&S Diwali advert featuring people from the Indian sub-continent dressing in drab colours and smashing lightbulbs in protest. Still in the early stages is the M&S Passover advert which, they assure us, is going to be a good one. A spokesperson for the company said: ‘M&S is about inclusivity, or it is about nothing. We are determined to insult everyone equally.’

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.

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