Co-op is under fire from publicans who have called on the convenience retailer to pull a “disgraceful” TV advert that depicts football fans staying in to watch the Euro 2024 football tournament, rather than visiting the pub.
Pub owners have criticised Co-op’s campaign of deliberately targeting an industry that is already struggling, and accused it of thereby going against its ethical credentials, reported the Guardian.
The offending advert states it is hard to see the TV screen in the pub and proposes customers instead to “stay in” and purchase a promotional beer and pizza deal.
The Campaign for Pubs group composed a letter to Co-op’s chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq calling on the CEO to remove the “utterly crass and divisive” advert and apologise to publicans.
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The letter reads: “You and your management team must surely be aware of what a challenging time it is for pubs and publicans, yet here you are, a supposedly ethical business, openly and deliberately undermining pubs and publicans’ livelihoods at this difficult time.
“At the time when businesses in England should be uniting in support of the national football team, the Co-op has instead cynically and shamelessly sought to attack another important business sector to try to boost your own profits from the tournament. It really goes against everything that the Co-op movement stands for. Who on earth thought this was an acceptable thing to do?,” it wrote.
However Co-op responded that it intended the campaign to be a “light hearted way” of promoting the supermarket‘s deal and had the “sole intention” on letting shoppers know about Co-op’s great value.
A Co-op spokesperson said: “The 10 second advert is a light-hearted way of highlighting to our members and customers that, if they have made the choice to stay in to watch the football, we have a cracking pizza and beer deal they can purchase to enjoy in their homes, with the sole intention of providing great value on relevant products which customers tell us they want, especially at a time when the cost of living is high”.
