The campaign is being advertised on television, billboards, newspapers and across the internet with a message that tells people how they can set up their own co-operative businesses, fund community projects, campaign for change or simply purchase ethical products and services, such as Fairtrade and ethical investments.
The adverts will showcase everyday people who, with help from the Co-operative Group, are instigating change — everything from community owned wind-turbines to fan-owned football clubs, from urban beekeeping to young film-maker co-operatives.
Peter Marks, Group Chief Executive, said: "Until the 1980s people understood the benefits of mutual ownership, but then the UK’s family silver was sold-off cheaply in a wave of demutualisation that weakened the influence that ordinary consumers could have on our economy.
"We are beginning to see momentum again at grassroots level, where the Co-operative Enterprise Hub is helping new co-operative businesses set up at a rate of more than one a day, but the opportunity is much bigger than that. Co-operatives alone are not a panacea, but sitting alongside other business and service models, they can help address the unprecedented social, economic and environmental challenges facing the country."
The TV commercial — above — tells how the Rochdale Pioneers, who established the first successful retail co-operative in 1844, started a revolution which is still going strong. The promotion also supports the Group’s recently launched Ethical Plan, which sets out a number of revolutionary goals that aim to cement its reputation as the most socially responsible business in the UK.
Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, said: "The Co-operative Group’s new ‘Join the Revolution’ campaign hits the mark, in my view. It is bold and it is, after so many long years, unashamedly co-operative."
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