Hurrah, a new Cadburys Dairy Milk, Glass and a Half Full Productions ad is here! And it’s better than the last one Chocolate Charmer. This one is called Spots vs Stripes and it’s set in a magical (and notably biologically diverse) underwater habitat where the striped fishies and critters gear up against the spotted fishies and critters in what seems to be a bizzare Dodgeball / Red Rover hybrid game, only for both teams to be usurped in victory by a cheeky diving duck from above.
I really like this ad, not least because of the slightly manic Russian gypsy folk music soundtrack but also because in a way it’s reminiscent of the best kind of old-school Disney animation; an enjoyable diversion for an enjoyable diversions sake. There’s method to its madness of course; the crazy game the underwater animals are playing ties in with Cadbury’s sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympics.
I regret Cadburys didn’t put this ad out during the World Cup though. I know it’s associated with a different sporting event and all, but the excitement around the WC would have given it more traction. You see, compared to the other Dairy Milk commercials Spots vs Stripes isn’t doing so well for YouTube views, a key indicator Cadbury’s are surely measuring given the viral focus of everything Glass and a Half Full Productions do. Combined, the two official HQ versions of the ad have a total of just 80,000 views in the past two weeks. Compare that with the Eyebrows commercial which had over a million YouTube views in its first day and it looks weak.
Now, Dairy Milk is an iconic and universal brand. From it’s never-changed recipe to the oh-so-familiar purple packaging, it feels like the bar has been around forever. You can imagine your great-granny, aged ten, going into her local grocers and handing over a tuppence ha’penny for one. Eating a Dairy Milk is an experience most of the population have strong associations with; the chunky squares of chocolate, the gold foil which you rub to reveal the Cadbury’s signature underneath - like a special moment which brings you back to childhood every time.
I find the idea of the universality of Dairy Milk interesting when compared with other chocolate bars who so strongly appeal to a target audience of one gender or another. One incident a few years ago really brought this point home to me. I was doing an evening course in DIT when a male classmate came into the room holding a Galaxy chocolate bar. Much jesting ensued with the guy being told in no uncertain terms that Galaxy is chocolate for girls and that he was compromising his masculinity in some way by eating it. Obviously the comments were a slightly less politic than that and may have involved the phrase “you big girl’s blouse”. Our reaction just goes to show how well Galaxy have positioned themselves over the years.
I’d love to see the creative brief for a Galaxy commercial - it probably runs along the lines of “women prefer chocolate to sex - explore”. And under the ‘Mandatories’ section it surely says: “Must feature girl-next-door-Briget-Jones-type brunette in silk skirt, kicking off shoes / lying down on couch in expensive looking urban flat”.
In contrast you have the uber masculine chocolate advertising. There’s the classic Yorkie trucker ad with the soundtrack crooning about “milk chocolate bricks” and their packaging which boasts proudly that the bar is “Not For Girls”.
More recently Snickers have well and truly occupied this space with their Mr T commercials which demand that emasculated modern man toughen up and “Get Some Nuts”.
Dairy Milk, by contrast, is the chocolate bar for everyone, regardless of gender. Their sole brand focus is on “joy”, and they try to ensure that the Glass and a Half Full Productions can be enjoyed by all.
In fact, the Spots vs Stripes ad launches a much wider campaign Cadbury will be running over the next two years. We’re talking about “experiential marketing” people. We’re talking about “interacting with the brand in a meaningful way”. We’re talking about “mobilising the democratic power of social media to create brand adorers”. Well actually I just made all that stuff up, but I’m sure that’s how their agency pitched it to them. With a dedicated SpotsVStripes website, Facebook pages, YouTube channel and all manner of social media jiggery-pokery, Cadbury are trying to build on their credentials as the chocolate for the everyman by mobilizing people into a position on either side of the spotty / stripey divide. I’m not sure how motivated your average person will be to join in - there’ll have to be lots of incentives and enticements. Then again I didn’t think Arthur’s Day would work, so what do I know? It’s definitely one to watch and definitely only something a brand “of the people” like Dairy Milk could pull off.
