Co-op has revealed that it will not be running a “traditional, multimillion-pound Christmas ad” this year.
Instead, the retailer has chosen to put money into a new partnership with a membership-based food scheme and community hub called Your Local Pantry, which plans to grow from 75 sites to 225 over the next three years.
The plan is to showcase Your Local Pantry’s work through a live stream tonight (16 November) at about 7pm via the Instagram account belonging to celebrity chef Big Zuu, who co-presented last year’s live two-minute Christmas ad for the Co-op on ITV.
Mel Matson, director of customer proposition and communications at Co-op, said: “At Co-op, community is at the heart of everything we do. We have seen many of our competitors attempt to find the right tone for their Christmas ads this year, to reflect the mood of the nation.
“Rather than spending multimillions of pounds on a traditional TV ad this year, we felt the best way to show our commitment to making things a little fairer for our communities, is to pull our Christmas ad altogether.”
The live stream will also feature a special appearance from One Pound Meals chef, presenter and author Miguel Barclay to share useful tips and tricks to make groceries go further.
Big Zuu added: “Everyone deserves access to great quality food at affordable prices. I hope that by visiting the Peckham Pantry and cooking up some healthy, tasty and more affordable meals with the team, more people in need will seek out community initiatives like Your Local Pantry.”
Acording to Co-op, Your Local Pantry regular members save an average of £1,000 a year and the partnership’s aim is to support over 32,0000 households over the next three years.
PR and influencer agency Halpern, creative agency Lucky Generals, digital agency MullenLowe and media agency Carat collaborated with Co-op to create the integrated campaign.
This article appeared in Campaign on 16 November 2022.