Waitrose is to launch its first new advert in a year and is taking inspiration from Winnie the Pooh for its autumn food campaign.

‘The Warmest Season’ ad has been designed to celebrate the British autumn and features Waitrose’s real-life suppliers battling with the British weather to produce seasonal food.

The 60-second advert launches today (Friday 2 October) and will be the supermarket’s first TV advert in nearly 12 months. It is also the first to be produced for by its new creative agency, adam&eve DDB.

To tie in with the seasonal theme, the advert is set to the soundtrack from the original 1968 Disney feature, ‘Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day’ which depicts A.A. Milne’s children’s character fighting against the elements on a windy autumnal day.

“As we welcome back the cold, crisp weather we wanted to bring out the warmth of autumnal food - from Sunday roasts to fish pie to apple crumble, especially highlighting quality British ingredients,” said Waitrose marketing director.

“We are very proud of our trusted relationships with our suppliers and know our customers appreciate the care we take producing the best quality food.”

Waitrose is also launching a social media campaign called #AutumnWarmers which will ask Twitter users to share their favourite autumnal food photos.

It will also create four cinemagraphs to reinforce weekly themes that will be promoted on Facebook and Instagram and a geo-located Pinterest board to showcase regional activity across the UK.

Meanwhile Waitrose’s weekly sales (excluding petrol) for the week to 26 September were up 2.1%, after slipping 0.1% in the previous week.

Waitrose attributed the rise to BBC’s cooking show The Great British Bake Off and the ongoing Rugby World Cup.