As a nation, the UK likes to build up heroes just to knock them down.
Community movement #ClapfortheNHS is rightly getting a lot of airtime. We should show our support for the nurses, doctors, et al keeping us healthy and safe.
Ordinary people led the movement to clap in support of the NHS, and now public figures and the media have jumped on the bandwagon. This is no bad thing, there is nothing like media support and the odd celebrity endorsement to really kick a campaign into high gear.
Unity
What began as a genuine coming together within small communities has evolved to encompass the whole world. The idea that we can unify in common support for our fellow man is heartening. It speaks to the good inherent in human nature, the ties that bind us all together and the triumph of spirit over adversity.
Plenty of money is being raised for charity, which is never a bad thing.
Cashing in?
Are advertisers co-opting the renewed unity within communities to make profit? Maybe. To some extent it’s understandable and has been going on for donkey’s years. Brands need to make money.
This poses wider moral and ethical questions about the use of genuine causes and heartfelt human emotion in advertising.
Isn’t the potential there to minimise the real feeling and devalue the potency of the original messages of support?
What do NHS workers think of clapping for them?
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