Waitrose’s latest TV advert ...filmed by a cow called Mo
ITS upmarket, middle-class image has already led many to poke fun. And Waitrose’s latest brainwave is hardly likely to change that.
For the supermarket has come up with a novel way of showing customers how much it cares about the welfare of the animals that end up on customers’ dinner tables – by fitting a video camera to a cow.
The ‘cowcam’ will be used to provide footage for a television advertising campaign.
Images from other locations will be streamed live from dawn to dusk to giant screens at some of the UK’s busiest railway stations, including Waterloo. Commuters will be able to watch beehives, oilseed rape fields and views of the countryside surrounding Waitrose’s own farm, Leckford Estate in Hampshire.
The cowcam will be worn by a cow called Mo on a dairy farm near Newbury, Berkshire, which supplies the chain. She was chosen because she is a particular favourite of the herdsman. Mo will have the lightweight camera attached to her health monitor collar, which tracks if she is getting enough grazing and cud-chewing time.
Footage will be used in TV commercials that will be filmed, edited and broadcast on the same day. Waitrose says its print advertising will use only images of real farms that have been taken within 24 hours before publication.
The move is part of an attempt to connect customers with farmers and to highlight welfare and production standards. It comes at a time when families are demanding to know more about how their food is produced and where it comes from. Waitrose is keen to highlight that it is the first major supermarket to ensure its dairy cows are guaranteed at least 100 days grazing outside every year.
The first TV advert featuring Mo and her herd will air on Friday. Future adverts will feature egg producers and fish suppliers.
A spokesman said: ‘We’ve always been proud of where our food comes from, and the care and commitment our farmers and suppliers put into producing it. But rather than telling customers what we do, we’ve decided to show them.’