Co-op in the dog house over radio ad

The UK's fifth largest supermarket chain was rapped on the knuckles on Wednesday, over a radio advertisement for an alcohol sale.

A radio spot for The Co-operative Food, which aired in August 2015, mentioned typical summer situations in a promotion for a range of spirits.

"Sun's out, garden chair, drinks. In-laws, great, drinks. Cricket, wicket, drinks."

The spot ended with the chain's slogan "little, often, Co-op", and it was the use of this phrase which caused one listener to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority.

In its decision, the self-regulatory organisation said the slogan was not in itself problematic, but needed to be considered in the context of the advertisement.

"In this case the ad included reference to three brief scenarios followed by 'drinks', which we considered would be understood by listeners to refer to the consumption of alcohol", the decision read.

"The scenarios were all spoken by the same person and, in combination with the use of the slogan and the fact the ad was for spirits, we considered that the ad implied it was desirable to drink frequently."

The authority said the spot breached rules on social responsibility and alcohol and must not appear again.

It also warned the Co-op to take care when using its slogan in alcohol advertising in future.