As part of its major initiative to champion pulled pork, BPEX's humorous yet engaging television advert premiered after the closing credits of Friday night’s episode of Coronation Street.

After running on terrestrial TV at the weekend, including a slot during ITV’s new Sunday night flagship show Home Fires, the ad is then set to run across multichannel and video-on-demand channels alongside a mix of popular programmes, until the end of the month.

A 30-second edit of the advert, which follows a family achieving the ultimate lazy Sunday, finished perfectly with a serving of no-fuss pulled pork, will run until 21 May, after which a shorter, 10-second version will be aired.

BPEX has worked closely with major processors and retailers to develop in store activity to support the campaign.

Approximately 1.3 million “Perfect for Pulled Pork” stickers will appear on packs of pork shoulder during the campaign and retailers are supporting the campaign with their own marketing and social media activity.

A collection of inspiring new pulled pork recipes has been created.

Around 1 million recipe booklets featuring these recipes will be distributed to consumers during the campaign. The recipes will also be sold into target media.

Michelin starred TV chef Tom Kerridge is acting as a spokesperson for the campaign and will be conducting media interviews. Tom has also produced a series of pulled pork recipes and “how to” videos.

Leading media will be targeted with deliveries of pulled pork and a series of celebrity inspired pulled pork rubs have been created to drive media coverage and social media comment.

Kirsty Walker, BPEX head of marketing, said: “The idea behind the advert is to demonstrate pulled pork is a delicious dish which takes zero effort to prepare.

“We’ve targeted programmes that are popular with our core audience – 24-55 year olds with families – and with nearly 6,000 spots booked from now until the end of the month; millions of viewers are expected to see the ad.

“Sundays are busy days for families, therefore we think a tasty, zero-effort family meal like pulled pork will be well-received.

"Once consumers have been persuaded to give pulled pork a try, we’re sure they will appreciate its wonderful flavour, succulence and the freedom the six hour cooking time gives them on their Sundays.

"As a result, we aim to drive renewed interest in fresh pork, in particular pork shoulder joints which are currently under-utilised in the domestic market. This in turn will benefit the profitability and sustainability of the entire supply chain.”

Supporting the TV campaign will be a dedicated programme of online and social media activity, with the #achievelazy and #pulledpork hashtags and a host of pulled pork recipe ideas on Facebook and Twitter.

In addition, Tom Kerridge will be answering questions on the LovePork Facebook page and will also feature in three videos showing how easy it is to cook pulled pork, hosted on BPEX’s consumer-facing website www.lovepork.co.uk.

Other activity will include a Facebook competition, a tie up with leading YouTuber, Barry Lewis (My Virgin Kitchen) and partnerships with Netmums and a range of top food bloggers.

Ms Walker said: “We are hugely excited about this campaign and we are looking forward to seeing its impact.

"The huge support and backing from the industry has been a major factor in this campaign and there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved and take advantage of the increased demand for pork shoulder joints and pulled pork dishes.

"From butchers using our pulled pork point-of-sale material, retailers promoting pulled pork recipe ideas to customers, food service operators capitalising on this renewed demand for pulled pork dishes or farmers supporting our social media campaign, together we can change consumer perceptions about fresh pork for the better.”

Further Reading

You can view more recipes with pork by clicking here.