Very Little Helps first appeared as a mural street art work by Banksy that he created on the side of a pharmacy on Essex Road in North London. Released in 2008 as an edition of 299, the print shows three children standing around a flagpole. One of the children is raising not a flag but a Tesco plastic bag whilst the other two watch on and pledge allegiance by placing their hands across their hearts.

The blue, calming background of the piece is punctuated with the absurdist scene as Banksy calls into question both the commodification and corporatisation of modern Britain. The title of the piece itself is a reference to Tesco’s (the biggest supermarket in the UK at the time) slogan “Every Little Helps”. Does every little help? It appears not. Banksy, in his typical irreverent style, pokes fun and mocks the giant corporation and, whilst it could be found across the country, the print makes the viewer wonder what the price we must pay is. Yes, there is a certain ease in terms of our shopping, but we have become a monolithic nation at the behest of corporations and have lost our identity in the process