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Co-op’s Christmas ad follows a literal band of brothers as they busk to Oasis in an ad, created by Lucky Generals, that celebrates a sense of community on the high street.

The spot stars a pair of real-life brothers, Austin and Rocco, as they busk outside their local Co-Op, turning heads with a rendition of Oasis' Round Are Way before declining any payment and pottering home.

It ends with a plea from Co-op for consumers to do their bit for their community.

Launching tomorrow (Wednesday) with 100-, 60- and 30-second cuts alongside a social media campaign, the work was directed by Billy Boyd Cape through Academy. Media is handled by Carat.

“It’s been a tough year and our Christmas ad aims to raise a smile and maybe even bring a tear to the eye,” Ali Jones, customer director at Co-op said.

“I love its simple and easy portrayal of how special moments can happen when family, community and goodwill come together – qualities the Co-op represents and stands for every day.”

Last month, Co-op launched a spoken-word spot, “All the people giving double”, that celebrated the power of hope in an otherwise horrendous year.

The campaign promoted Co-op Membership programme, which donates 2p of every £1 a member spends on own-brand products to community initiatives and local causes.

Danny Hunt, creative director at Lucky Generals, said: “Co-op has been making a difference to local communities forever – it’s what they do – so we decided to tell the story of these rascals.

“The brothers have nothing but a guitar, a Santa hat and a pocket full of swagger, and in singing this track remind the whole street that regardless of what may be this Christmas, the sun still shines, the birds still sing and, no matter who we are, we can all make a difference.”

Boyd Cape said: “Throughout this tough year, we’ve seen communities come together and share in small acts of kindness – we wanted to celebrate that.

“Our approach was to be the antidote to the bells and whistles of conventional Christmas advertising. Instead, making something humble, human and relatable. The work came together for all of us when we discovered our two young leads – who put such big smiles on our faces, we knew they would for the rest of the country too.”

Round Are Way was originally released in 1995 as a B-side to Wonderwall.

Last year’s Co-op Christmas campaign, “Not-so-silent night”, saw community group BTM Brass Band cover The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York in a nurse’s living room.

Co-op also unveiled a campaign in July highlighting the issue of food insecurity in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.