In a high-profile move at the beginning of the hay fever season, the group is sponsoring pollen count bulletins which will appear three times a day between May and September on Channel Five.
The `idents' feature a bee `counting' pollen in flowers, with a series of humorous voiceovers and were produced by the Co-op's London-based advertising agency, McCann Erickson.
There are seven different versions, which will be rotated. Explaining the decision to advertise on TV for the first time, the chain's commercial director, Gordon Farquhar, said: "We've gone for a simple, well-branded approach which is highly relevant for pharmacy, and combined it with humour.
"It's a way of raising awareness of the Co-operative Pharmacy. As an 800-strong pharmacy chain, network television exposure is a natural step for us, and the pollen count has an obvious fit with pharmacy and hay fever.
"McCann Erickson works on the Co-operative Group's brand advertising and food retail business and was therefore a natural appointment for the Co-operative Pharmacy."
The sponsorship will also be backed by point-of-sale materials in pharmacies, as well as on the Co-operative Pharmacy website, which will have a link from the Channel Five website.
The sponsored pollen counts will be screened after weekday news bulletins at 12.45pm, 5.30pm and 7.30pm, and twice each day at weekends.
In addition, 10-second adverts will appear on the channel's sister stations, Five US and Fiver.
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