The Past Speaks

As the 100th anniversary to the outbreak of the First World War approaches, it is is worthwhile looking at how companies have attempted to profit from the social memory of the conflict. Jo Hawkins, a historian from Australia, has published some great images related to ANZAC commercialization in Australia and New Zealand. A number of Australian companies have recently run rather tasteless ads that refer to the anniversary of the bloody landings at Gallipoli, where the lives many Australians and New Zealanders were squandered in an attempt to establish a beachhead in Turkey.

Any readers with images of equivalent ads from the UK, Canada, or other countries encouraged to contact me via either the comments section or my work email. I’ll post all of the images I get in a special blog post.

Re the Australasian ads, my personal favourite is the one for the service that allows mobile phone users to pay for the privilege of listening to a pre-recorded minute of silence. Genius!!!

ANZAC Footballs