Hails & Fails – January 31st 2025
Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, has officially begun… Happy New Year to anyone who celebrates! And in the spirit of the Snake, an animal both feared and respected in Chinese culture, here’s three hails that are scarily good! And of course, a frightening fail.
Cadbury reimagined what generosity looks like, Tony’s Chocolate responded with a brilliant reactive and Walkers made fans go wild. While the BBC was forced to apologise.
HAILS
The Great Dairy Milk Divide
Cadbury designed limited edition packaging into proportional parts to give customers the chance to share chocolate in specific ways connected to everyday acts of generosity.
Phrases include “Who drove”, “Who navigated and “Who didn’t” and “Who slept”, “Who cooked”, and “Who cleaned” and “Who woke up with no duvet” vs “Who woke up with a duvet” – with hundreds of iterations.
Plus, the division of the chocolate bar is made fair and free from debate. For instance, “who drove” gets a good 80% of the treat.
Delicious PR.
Alice Lee – Senior Account Manager: “This is a perfect example of an idea that is simple, yet still clever and relatable!”
Then Tony Reacts
In response to Cadbury’s idea, Tony Chocolonely made a reactive photoshop post dividing a bar of their own chocolate into three parts: “Who’s ending exploitation in Africa?”, “Who’s also ending exploitation in Africa?” and “Who’s still ending exploitation in Africa?”. The caption along with the photoshopped image read,
“We’ve been inspired by our choco friend to help you share your Tony’s Chocolonely bar. Whichever chunk is for you, just know you’re joining our sweet movement for
change with every single bite! Our bars might be unequally divided (to remind the world that the chocolate industry is too!), but every piece makes a real, lasting impact for cocoa farmers in
West Africa”.
Jess Redfearn – Midweight Creative: “Now this is how you do a reactive! An even more important message than the Cadbury hail. Bravo!”
An Extra Flaming Collab
Walkers delighted fans by dropping a new limited-edition collection of Extra Flamin’ Hot snacks – with some unexpected items we didn’t know we needed.
Three new spicy products include a sausage roll, spicy cookie dough gelato bites (a fiery, icy invention with chipotle cookie crumb!) and a hot lip balm – all made possible in spicy collabs with Doughlicious, Upcircle and Ginster.
Spice lovers can get their hands on the items via TikTok Shop today (Friday January 31st) and Monday February 3rd.
El Fisher – Office Manager: “You think you’ve seen it all! Who knew your lips needed a little spice?! I love how unexpected this is. Take my money!”
FAIL
BBC blunder
This week the BBC apologised to past staff members who felt unable to raise concerns about actor & comedian Russell Brand’s behaviour while he worked at the corporation.
The apology comes with the publication of findings of an internal review into the star’s time as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music between 2006 and 2008.
Complaints relate to him urinating into a cup during a show, which was registered at the time but “not dealt with effectively”.
The BBC launched the investigation back in 2023 after several women accused the actor and comedian of rape, sexual assaults, and emotional abuse.
Brand denies all allegations and says his relationships were “always consensual”.
Adam Moss – News & Creative Director: “A BBC apology is just a start. It’s what comes next that’s important. There are people here who have had real concerns and have been failed or let down spectacularly by one of the biggest UK corporations. It’s not what you say but what you do, which truly counts.”
Want more information? Contact us here