Tesco celebrates summer with fresh spin on a classic recipe and a timeless ’60s hit song

With this summer’s heatwave still doling out high temperatures across Europe, Tesco‘s new ad spot features a refreshing family-friendly recipe, set to one of the  1960’s most uplifting hit songs – despite the lyrics being all about heartbreak.

Highlighting Tesco Poland‘s fresh food range, the spot depicts a common summer family scene: children playing in a pool as their parents provide and prepare some tasty nourishment; the result is a ‘watermelon pizza’ which the family enjoys together in their garden.

These familial summer scenes deserved a sound of warm familiarity – which is where we came in. Our  work with this project involved clearing the publishing for the cover version used in the song: an updated take on The Foundations‘ 1968 hit “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

Although the original chart-topping hit by the soul band capitalised on the classic American Motown sound, The Foundations were from the UK, and they caught attention as for their multi-racial mix as they did for the size of the band – comprising of eight London-based musicians of white British, West Indian and Sri Lankan backgrounds. Lyrically, the song contrasts the bright and optimistic-sounding arrangement against the narrator’s woes of one-sided unrequited love – proving that uplifting songs don’t always have a happy origin.

Hear this cover version and watch Tesco Polska’s new ad spot, below.