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We have had some amazing ads for confectionary over the years.
Rolo.
Then, of course, the pinnacle … Cadbury Gorilla.
However one of the things I still haven’t quite understood is how we have also had some of the absolute worst.
I mean, for years, it was Ferrero Roche’s Ambassadors Table that was top of the shitness charts. An ad so bad, that it became great for its utter kitschiness.
And while no one ever really believed they were the chocolate favoured by diplomats, royalty and Ambassadors … it was a strategy that worked for many – from After Eights to Viennetta.
However there’s another ad that I’ve just seen that puts Ferrero firmly in second place.
They’re not saying they’re sophisticated.
They’re not claiming to be for special occasions.
They’re saying they are ‘so much fun’.
SO. MUCH. FUN.
Now don’t get me wrong, they’re a nice tasting bite, but fun?
They’ve never played video games with me.
They’ve never watched movies with me.
They’ve never even suggested you can use them as chess pieces.
What the hell is fun about it?
To answer this, let’s have a look at the ad they’re running shall we.
Did you watch it?
Did you survive watching it?
If it’s any consolation, that is still better than the one they ran last Christmas.
So, based on that monstrosity, they think they’re ‘so much fun’ because when you open up a pack, everyone comes out because they want to shove one of the caramel, chocolatey-hazelnut, nougat things right down their throat.
Which highlights 4 issues I have with this premise.
1. The client and the agency have no idea what fun actually is.
2. Even if it was ‘so much fun’, wouldn’t all confectionary be able to say that?
3. Where I come from, sharing something you like is cause for a fight, not fun.
So to dear old Toffifee … may I humbly suggest you sort yourself out.
Your ads are pants.
Your ingredients aren’t that unique.
The spelling of your name is absolutely horrific.
And most of all, your product is fair, but not fun.
Sort that out, and you can make Ferrero ads the most stupid again.
You’re welcome.
26 Comments
This is why we come here. To witness you having a cataclysmic meltdown about something so inconsequential, you end up sounding like someone who should be on a police watchlist somewhere. Well done Rob.
Comment by Bazza November 18, 2020 @ 7:38 amThe ad is awful and the chocolate has zero more fun in them than any other chocolate. But it’s also a rubbish brand people only hear about around this time of year. Deep breaths Rob. You’re making Trump look calm.
Comment by Bazza November 18, 2020 @ 7:40 amOK. Forget the last sentence. Even your meltdown about toffifee can’t do that.
Comment by Bazza November 18, 2020 @ 7:41 amThat was almost fighting talk.
Comment by Rob November 18, 2020 @ 8:26 amLike someone taking your chocolate?
Comment by Bazza November 18, 2020 @ 8:30 amYou’re not wrong. But it is much nicer to witness when we are not all around the same table and he is forcing us all to get involved and get angry. Sorry Robert.
Comment by George November 18, 2020 @ 7:48 amfucking hell. even auntie is putting a foot in. toffifee cant make good ads but they can make semi good people become bastards. they should use that as their line. better than fucking unfun fun.
Comment by andy@cynic November 18, 2020 @ 2:16 pmThe ad is awful for many reasons. The cliched perfect nuclear family with their contrived gender roles and behaviours being just another reason for why.
Comment by George November 18, 2020 @ 7:51 amI couldn’t understand why the ad was making all brit planners froth at the mouth. It’s bad, but it is igniting some deep hatred. Then I looked up where toffifee are from and it all came clear. This is some WW2 issue.
Comment by Bazza November 18, 2020 @ 8:03 amYes, that’s it. A hangover from a war that happened before I was born. How Freudian of you. No Baz. There is no conspiracy. It’s just a commentary on a terrible concept and execution for a confectionary, I didn’t even know was German.
Comment by George November 18, 2020 @ 8:09 amI now agree with Billy from yesterday. Hahaha.
Comment by Rob November 18, 2020 @ 8:23 amGlad to hear you’ve joined the Baz is a prick society. What took you so long?
Comment by Billy Whizz November 18, 2020 @ 4:31 pmMaybe you were stealing all of Baz’s assholery.
Comment by DH November 18, 2020 @ 4:35 pmDidn’t you once say some people put the fun in funeral? I’m guessing Toffifee are “some people.”
Comment by Pete November 18, 2020 @ 8:10 amHahahaha. Yes – but I said it in a complimentary way as it was about the people who made my last day at R/GA great.
Comment by Rob November 18, 2020 @ 8:23 amSome great chocolate advertising in this post. Rolo is still a classic.
Then there’s the toffifee one.
Comment by Pete November 18, 2020 @ 8:12 amLove that Rolo ad. Chocolate with a real brand idea that built the brand over years. And now we have toffifee.
Comment by Rob November 18, 2020 @ 8:24 amI’m assuming it’s a German ad with a new voiceover? And can we stop banging on about Gorilla – outside of your industry, I never heard anyone talking about it and I certainly don’t now – unlike some of the other ads you rightly highlight. The ones with the distinctive point of view raher than the look at us being different approach.
Comment by John November 18, 2020 @ 9:09 amdoddsy. doddsy. stop auditioning for grumpy old men, theyve stopped making the shit years ago.
Comment by andy@cynic November 18, 2020 @ 2:15 pmWhy is Thor in Toffifee ads?
Comment by Northern November 18, 2020 @ 12:36 pmwhy is thor in the ad and not destroying the fuck out of everything like theyre supposed to. cant anyone do as theyre fucking told anymore?
Comment by andy@cynic November 18, 2020 @ 2:13 pmWhy did they stop at toffifee? Why not toffifeeifee? The public deserves to know?
Comment by DH November 18, 2020 @ 3:40 pmI imagine that when you are in an industry that is so heavily reliant on child labor, your idea of what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is so fucked that a shitty ad can slip through the cracks
Comment by Bryan November 23, 2020 @ 8:51 amI don’t understand this comment at all.
Comment by Rob November 23, 2020 @ 9:25 amhttps://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/oct/20/chocolate-industry-slammed-for-failure-to-crack-down-on-child-labour
Comment by Bryan November 23, 2020 @ 10:02 amAhhhhhhh. Yes.
They’re very good at selling the dream at the expense of others nightmares.
Comment by Rob November 23, 2020 @ 11:47 am