Asda is to launch a Downton Abbey-themed ad campaign before the feature film premiere of the TV favourite this month.

Keeping to Asda’s roots as a budget supermarket, the TV ad campaign, which launches on Channel 4 on Friday night, focuses on the “downstairs” staff who run Downton Abbey for the Crawley family.

The 30-second ad features the head cook, Mrs Patmore, and her kitchen staff preparing a feast for a royal visit. The ad shifts to a modern-day family placing the same array of food on their own table.

Asda is hoping the high-profile tie-up will add a bit of sparkle to its image after the competition watchdog scuppered its proposed £7bn merger with rival Sainsbury’s this year.

“Downton Abbey is world-renowned for its wonderful kitchen, stunning feasts and a head cook who only accepts the best,” said Eilidh MacAskill, the vice-president of creative and media at Asda. “We aim to provide customers with delicious, low-cost meal ideas that don’t compromise on quality.”

The Downton Abbey movie debuts in the UK on 13 September, with the US following a week later. The TV series aired on ITV from 2010 to 2015 and the final feature-length episode attracted more than 10 million viewers.

The final appearance of the Downton Abbey cast in a festive farewell special in 2015 beat Eastenders and Strictly Come Dancing to be the most watched TV programme on Christmas Day, the first time ITV had managed the feat in 15 years.