Happiness cannot be bought, but chocolate can, which is practically the same – so the saying goes.
Most chocolate advertisements are simple, relying on a Pavlovian reflex. The sight of chocolate, its texture, its crispy or creamy filling affects almost all our senses: we hear the snap of the broken chocolate, see the mouthwatering filling, and almost taste it as the lucky and happy chosen one takes a bite. If all other „trimmings”: the choice of music, the narration, the dramaturgy are also in place, then there is every chance that the advertisement will achieve its goal and sooner or later the product will come home with us.
However, there is another way that goes beyond the usual clichés and brings the product into our shopping cart in a bolder manner, namely through humor. István Sas Advertising psychologists have often stated that an advertisement becomes truly good when it entertains, as a form of appeasement for the intrusion. Let’s take a look at the most memorable chocolate advertisements filled with humor!
The chocolate that wins not with its appearance
How many chocolate advertisement slogans do we know that we still mention as catchphrases decades later? The undisputed king and pioneer of the genre is clearly Chokito, marketed by Nestlé: the „ugly and delicious” slogan is surely familiar to those who were not alive when these truly creative and entertaining ad spots were born. The peculiarity of the concept is that the brand dares to build on the chocolate's – ahem... unorthodox, or let’s say frankly, repulsive appearance as a USP and reminds us in various ways not to judge at first glance.
The slogan is credited to the Ammirati Puris Lintas (APL Budapest) advertising agency. Research conducted by the advertising agency among Hungarian teenagers revealed that they cannot be influenced by rational arguments to choose the Chokito brand; much more is needed. The insight from the research was: this chocolate is really ugly, but not bad! The rest is already (advertising) history: in 1996, the first television and cinema campaign started with Ugly and delicious! the slogan. The advertisement had numerous outdoor and print versions, but we will now focus on the TV commercials.
The chocolate covered with puffed rice and chocolate, filled with caramel, is still painfully missed by many of us. Fortunately, thanks to the internet, the sweet can even be reproduced at home, and the fantastic series can be watched again.
Here is the most iconic piece of the series, the tough biker dude:
The gang breaking into the car is also something else:
The competitive swimmer Adonis is certainly a favorite of many of us:
We also remember the terrifying visitor's doorbell:
Let’s not forget the sweet elderly lady:
The absolute winner among the advertisements is the butcher team appearing as models:
Let’s raise the stakes: alongside the great slogan, one thing can remain even more memorable in a person's memory than this catchphrase, namely the unique advertising music. We can confidently say that Hajós András maximized this with the famous/notorious song of Tibi chocolate. The advertisement probably doesn’t need an introduction; let the internet revive it for us. Beware, it’s really catchy!
...and the purple cow?
No panic, of course, Milka cannot be left out of the list. Interestingly, the brand's distinctive purple cow is the work of a Hungarian graphic designer, Sándor Szabó. The purple creature has proven to be one of the biggest marketing tricks of the past decades, as in a drawing competition for children in Bavaria in the 90s, every third child painted the cow purple out of thousands of participants. Over the years, the brand's communication has fundamentally revolved around the concept of tenderness, but when this was spiced up with a bit of humor, it surely provided us with a lasting experience:
Who are you if you're hungry?
Surely everyone already knows that this is one of the most famous advertisements of recent years. The name Snickers has been intertwined with a typical feeling of life for everyone for many years, which it has been able to present in an incredibly impressive way during its „No stopping!” slogans over the past years. Can this strong concept be enhanced in any way? Snickers has succeeded, as over the years, popular celebrities such as Betty White, Mr. T, and Rowan Atkinson alias Mr. Bean have appeared in their campaigns.
To be continued.
Are you interested in the topic?
I recommend to you:
- What makes an advertising jingle effective?
- The purple cow's Hungarian connection
- The Milka story
- The ABCs of advertising tricks: If the celebrity says…
- INTERNATIONAL: International Gallery; Chokito Ammirati Puris Lintas
