We are all standing around, watching the television. It's November 11, 1993.The entire newsroom of The Sydney Morning Herald is watching the ceremony as the Unknown Australian Soldier is interred in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial. I don't remember a lot of the details but he was buried that day in a Tasmanian blackwood coffin, a bayonet and a sprig of wattle on top and soil from the Pozières battlefield in France was scattered in his tomb. I didn't remember those details but the Australian War Memorial remembers everything.Honestly, I did not get it then. I watched because everyone else was watching. I'd never understood the way Australians carried on about Anzac. In my usual blunt way, I said to the First Fleeter standing next to me, something like this: "I don't get it. I wish I could, but I don't. I can't understand why we want to remember this war and those deaths in this way."She proceeded to berate me sotto voce for the next 30 minutes. And then a bit of shouting.

I've written about her before. She said all war is heroic. When I asked her if she was actually familiar with the Anzac story, she went ballistic. She claimed she was the granddaughter of an Anzac Digger and she never spoke to me again. Nice woman, according to some of my colleagues. I always thought she was a shocking bore and a bit of a snob, lecturing me on how I should feel about the Anzacs. She went on to work for Big Money and is still there, I think. I doubt that there is an Australian alive who loves war, even people who think we should be sending our troops to fight elsewhere. It's the sense of trying to protect what we have; of valuing the life we live here. I value it too but dread the deaths to come. Anyhow, I took First Fleeter's various comments about mateship, egalitarianism and perseverance to heart – even though she and her friends appeared to know nothing about any of those traits – and I tried to embrace the Anzac legend. I'm like that, very open-minded.Shortly after that exchange, I came to work for The Canberra Times.Then editor-at-large Jack Waterford, also a legend but still alive, made me go to the Dawn Service. 

There are a hundred reasons why parents of small children are well-suited to get up at 2am and then spend hours commuting to a memorial. First, our nights are already borked. cmu hoodiesSecond, we are in a daze of exhaustion, open to emotions. denver broncos hoodie walmartSo for many years from 1994, I attended the Dawn Service at the Cenotaph in Sydney. tultex hoodiesMy feeling of distance from the Anzac memorialising waned a little. toshi hoodieThere's nothing like being at Martin Place in Sydney in pitch dark, in the rain, with 20,000 others listening to the Last Post. toshi hoodie

It's what I imagine church would be like, that is,  if you believed in God. Intense contemplation of the horrors of the past, gratitude for survival, hope for a peaceful future. msm hoodie rawThe first  Dawn Service, in 1927, was small, impromptu; a year later 150 people came,  and then a real rush in 1939, as another war loomed. There were nearly 20,000 people then in a country much smaller than this one. By the time I started going, the crowds were huge and those I interviewed said they came to the Dawn Service because of "pride".That's OK, it's totally wonderful to be proud – but don't mistake crowds for a real belief in the spirit of Anzac. After all, you'd never mistake the frenzy of Christmas shopping or Easter egg queues for a belief in Jesus Christ. We are consuming, that's all. Now, we are celebrating when we should be commemorating. Now, it's 100 years since Anzac and our commemoration has turned into a centenary circus. 

Yes, the vulgarity of Woolworths with its #freshinourmemories campaign is hard to top. But the shops are full of T-shirts and hoodies with the Anzac "brand". If you do it right, you can buy yourself some Anzac coins as a commemorative act. Or take yourself on some luxury trip to actually see the spot where diggers died.  Share your #diggerstribute to be in the running to receive some beautiful gifts. Get yourself an Anzac branded stubby holder. Or, repellently, Raise A Glass. Chris Fox, the chief executive of the unfortunately named Camp Gallipoli, says the centenary commemorations of the Gallipoli landings are being "bogged down in negativity".   I wonder if that was in response to being forced to pull three Camp Gallipoli items – hoodie, beanie and stubby holder – from sale because they were in breach of their Anzac product permit conditions.As some adolescent genius  said last week, Anzac has been turned into Brandzac, from a commemoration into commerce.No wonder it's hard to hear the Last Post.

It's drowned out by the ka-ching of the Anzac tills.Twitter @jennaprice or email jenna_p@bigpond.net.auTHREE products baring the Anzac logo have been pulled from Target’s shelves following advice from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs that the products were “inappropriate”.A foam can holder, a beanie and a child’s hoodie have been removed from the 26-item Camp Gallipoli range of products being sold around the nation as part of a fundraising effort to mark the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli offensive.Department of Veterans’ Affairs spokesman Mark Lee told News Corp that “some items were deemed to be inappropriate because there was no reference to Camp Gallipoli on them, just Anzac”.//UgrBMeLBkt— ninemsn (@ninemsn) April 17, 2015 “Their permit related to their operation as Camp Gallipoli — it was not a license to sell products with the word AnzacMr Lee said Camp Gallipoli received approval to use the word ‘Anzac’ in April last year “based on the basis they had strong support from RSL and Legacy, and were running events that had a key education driver aimed at educating young people about service and sacrifice”.

But Camp Gallipoli CEO Chris Fox told News Corp that the banned drink holder was “designed to be a kids’ lemonade holder”, and that the foundation developed the hoodie to keep children warm.“We just looked at the young kids who wanted to be warm — we tend to look at it more as parents, and less commercially,” he said.“The Camp Gallipoli Foundation has been granted and has the use of the permit of the word Anzac, and the DVA have been across the wonderful support that we’ve had from Target from the beginning,” Mr Fox said.Mr Fox said the three products were banned under section 4V of the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956, which stipulates provision for the “importation of Anzac goods”. When asked about the details of the permit issued to Camp Gallipoli, Mr Lee said that some conditions stipulated that “merchandise should be made in Australia”, and also the “restrictions placed on the use of the word ‘Anzac’” to make sure the products with the logo were “appropriate and not trivialising the term”.

According to the guidelines written on the Department of Veterans’ Affairs website, “no person may use the word ‘Anzac’, or any word resembling it, in connection with any trade, business, calling or profession or in connection with any entertainment or any lottery or art union or as the name or part of a name of any private residence, boat, vehicle of charitable or other institution, or other institution, or any building without the authority of the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs.”A person who “misuses” the word faces a $10,200 fine, while a business could be fined up to $51,000.A 12-month prison sentence is also possible for any serious breaches of the Act.A Target spokesman told News Corp that the retailer was “advised that a small number of Camp Gallipoli products do not meet the agreed branding guidelines, and so we have taken prompt action to remove these products from sale.”“We acted in good faith and close consultation with Camp Gallipoli to develop the merchandise range and ensure the products were appropriate and respectful.“

Target was approached by Camp Gallipoli last year to be the merchandise partner for their event. Camp Gallipoli is endorsed by the Anzac Centenary Committee, the RSL, Legacy, and the Federal Government, and funds raised from the event will be donated to the RSL and Legacy.”However, restrictions on logos relate only to the use of the word ‘Anzac’ - which represents a significant aspect of Australian history — while permitting the same products to be sold with the word ‘Gallipoli’, a place.For example, in its most recent catalogue, Australia Post has continued to advertise products associated with Anzac, including a stubby holder in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli offensive albeit not emblazoned with the word ‘Anzac’.The decision to remove the three items comes only days after supermarket giant Woolworths was forced into an embarrassing backdown after its “Fresh in Our Memories” Anzac Day ad campaign was blasted as tasteless.The campaign encouraged members of the public to share stories and pictures of loved ones affected by or lost to war on a website that then branded them with Woolworths logo and the phrase “Lest we Forget 1915-2015.