ANALYSIS: Co-Op pulls an ace with Dylan ad sync.

Chas de Whalley

IN A CLEAR BID TO ASSERT ITSELF as a player on the high street, The Co- Op has harnessed Bob Dylan's 1963 classic Blowin' In The Wind to drive its latest Pass The Benefits Around screen campaign.

According to Sony, which controls both his records and publishing, rock's most iconoclastic singer-songwriter only allowed his work to be used in a UK TV ad because it ticked a long list of personally-endorsed ethical and ecological criteria.

Quite how that squares with other sync deals struck on Dylan's behalf in the US with iTunes and lingerie line Victoria's Secret could be open to debate, but the fact that this film finally makes it to air nearly three years (and a couple of extensions) after The Co-Op first paid premium rates for a hold on the track can only be read as a clear measure of the value which brands and their advertising agencies now place on securing the right title for a TV commercial. There are further synergies to be explored, too, as Sony have put together a new Dylan compilation in suitably eco-friendly packaging which is exclusive to Co-Op stores.

Dylan does not appear in the clip, of course. Unlike Alice Cooper, who is currently on his second outing for Norwich Union to reinforce the message that the insurance company has changed its name to Aviva. The new film kicks off with a 1971 BBC2 Old Grey Whistle Test performance by Cooper of Is It My Body?

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