Premier Foods is encouraging shoppers to switch from white bread to wholemeal in a new marketing campaign backed by ex-Spice Girl Emma Bunton.

The £1.5m campaign, which will run for eight weeks, aims to persuade some of the 18% of consumers who buy both white and wholemeal bread to convert to exclusively purchasing wholemeal.

"Following the overindulgence of Christmas, the new year is an ideal time to encourage consumers to switch to Hovis Wholemeal," said marketing director Jon Goldstone.

The brand's blockbuster Go On Lad TV advert has been amended for the

campaign's duration to show a Hovis Wholemeal loaf in the end frame, rather than the Hovis Little Brown Loaf normally shown.

Hovis said it did not expect the campaign to cannibalise long-term sales of the Hovis Soft White loaf it relaunched last May.