Co-op and VCCP mock the big shop faff in new Pop to Co-op campaign

Co-op Food launched a new chapter of its Pop to Co-op campaign on September 9, 2026, aimed at the big shop faff of large supermarkets. The work, by creative agency VCCP, runs across the UK until October 20. It tells shoppers that a trip to a convenience store can be value shopping too.

A 20-second pixel-art film runs UK-wide until October 20

The hero film is a 20-second spot animated in the pixel-art style of 1980s video games. It runs on TV, radio, out-of-home (posters and billboards), social media and display advertising. Media planning and buying is handled by Dentsu. Girl&Bear Studios produced the film.

Jonas Odell directs, Kurupt FM supplies the soundtrack

Director Jonas Odell made the spot, and the soundtrack is Suttin Like That by Kurupt FM. The creative pokes fun at wonky trolleys, 97 aisles of tat and shopping trips that take up a whole afternoon. Rachel Morris, creative director at VCCP, said the film asks why anyone would put themselves through that. The spot follows Co-op’s summer 2026 creative on the same platform.

Campaign builds on the 2025 Aldi Price Match launch

The value claim rests on a price promise. In 2025 Co-op launched Aldi Price Match, setting its prices against the discounter. Retail Gazette reports the new campaign builds on that launch. The message is that a small store near home no longer has to mean paying more.

Sam Walker frames convenience as value shopping

Sam Walker, marketing director at Co-op, told Retail Gazette “there’s no value compromise to shopping conveniently”. The campaign therefore does not sell convenience alone. It sells convenience and price in one message, and it names the weekly big shop as the thing to avoid.

For marketers, the useful lesson is the order of events. Co-op fixed the price promise first, with Aldi Price Match in 2025, and only then built creative that attacks the big shop. A value claim from a convenience format needs proof before it needs a pixel-art film. Brands planning a similar move should line up the pricing evidence and then brief the creative agency.

Read next: another campaign from this week.