Get Your Hands Off Our Sweets!

This article, by Tim Richardson in the Guardian, titled "Get your hands off our sweets!" was a really interesting read for me.

So, basically Cadbury, a British confectioner and one of the best known brands in the UK is under threat of a takeover from US based Kraft Foods. That's right, our evil cousins across the pond are trying to dent the heart of one of the finest British institutions and crush the way we calm our anxieties of the world by tucking into a bar of dairy milk! We helped them out in Iraq, and this is how they repay us?! Are you detecting a hint of sarcasm in this yet?! Hopefully, as I'm quite fond of them.

Actually I'm not even sure it's the fact that an American company is bidding to take over Cadbury - I'm sure the reaction would be the same if it was another country.

My take on it, is that it summarizes this weird sense of patriotism that us British folk have - and not just patriotism, but what really gets the backs up in the mind of the British psyche. This is perfectly explained by what Tim Richardson says here;

Bankers' bonuses? Annoying, but what can you do? Utilities bills rocketing? C'est la vie. Americans taking over Cadbury? Get your hands off our sweets!

Say Dairy Milk, Crunchie, Curly Wurly or Flake to any British person, and their hippocampus will immediately fire into action and recall feelings of comfort and safety from a time when all was calm, familiar and innocent.

Tim Richardson also adds;

And it's not just the jobs under threat – 30,000, according to the trade union Unite – or the potential upheaval of a Victorian institution from its Bournville home that voters wouldn't like – it's the fact that the sweets themselves would be threatened.

I agree mostly with this, though do feel it is just as much the threaten to this British institution that causes so much upheaval. I don't know for sure what it is, but my theory is two things cause us to feel this 'protectiveness' over the brand and its heritage (which is emphasized by the company making something so familiar and comforting):

1) Britain was once an empire. Many previous British territories are now independent. Our reach was great, our navy formidable. We all know how powerful Britain once was from our history lessons at school. This strength has, as all empires past, present and future experience at some point, dwindled over time. But trying to take our sweets? That's just crossing the line ne c'est pas? The final straw - Britain should loose no more ground! And this in my opinion causes such a strong reaction.

2) National identity. At the moment, many British people feel our national identity is....well, unidentifiable. What are we? Are we Christian? Are we White? Are we tolerant, if so, do we want to be any more? Politically, this is demonstrated by an increase in people voting for far-right parties who's policies (they say!) would protect the typically historical image of a 'White British' person. Yet, here we are, another 'bunch of foreigners' coming over to steal a much loved 'safe' brand, ripping out yet another piece of our soul. I should emphasize that I do not personally agree with the views of far-right parties. My comments are more what I view as being part of the psychological construing that creates this unease about taking our chocolate away from us.

But, Phil, isn't this just about business and chocolate? Well, from a financial analyst's perspective - Yes, I'm sure it is! Are a significant percentage of the British population statistical financial analysts? No, hence our looking into our inner beings and looking for a threat!

Either way, we shall see whether it is Kraft, Hershey, or the Cadbury shareholders that win the golden ticket. The British people? Well, perhaps for now we should just eat some dairy milk to calm our nerves.




Update: Well it looks as though our sweets are going to be taken over! - "Cadbury agrees Kraft takeover bid" (source BBC News)