Very Little Helps, also known as Tesco Flag, or Tesco Kids, shows a group of children surrounding a flagpole. Instead of raising a flag, one of them is raising a Tesco branded plastic bag while the other two are pledging their allegiance with their hands on their hearts, against a serene blue background. A clear reference to Tesco’s famous slogan “Every little helps” Banksy denounces the presence of the supermarket chain on almost every high street in Britain and, in some ways, its forcing out of diversity and independence.
Obviously, the flag also illustrates the theory that some corporations have become so large and omnipresent in our everyday lives that they are as powerful as nation states. In its critique of Tesco, this work joins previous prints such as Soup Can which focuses on the ‘Tesco value’ range of soups. At the same time, paying homage to Warhol‘s iconic Campbell Soup, Banksy makes a statement on the latent poverty of the working class in the UK, as well as on the uniformization of consumer’s products.
