Starting from the Kuch khaas hai zindagi mein, Cadbury has done a stellar job in getting chocolates out of the kids' domain and making it 'cool' for people of all ages to enjoy. Be it the girl who danced onto the cricket pitch and into our hearts or the college kid who asked an unknown girl for something 'meetha' before doing something shubh, they became our favourite people.
Cadbury now seems to have adopted a strategy of replacing the traditional Indian mithai in traditional situations - the after-dinner dessert, the mandatory meetha before beginning anything.
So, a horny (but cutely so) guy is initially disappointed to hear about karela for dinner but then asks 'meethe mein kya hai?'.
And then a sexy (but cutely so) girl practices breaking news of her pregnancy to her husband (or boyfriend? Why is she apprehensive?) when the guy offers her some 'meetha' instead of 'khatta'.
To my mind, this is happy, safe territory. And no complaints because Cadbury's Dairy Milk is a happy, safe brand. It is an immensely feel-good snack and by keeping it in the enjoyment-celebration domain, Cadbury is doing absolutely the right thing.
I always felt that when they launched Silk - a smoother, creamier chocolate (yes, I read the pack) - they should have positioned Silk as the choice of more devoted chocolate lovers and made the advertising a little more 'edgy'. It should be something I would be willing to give up a lot for.
Instead the launch ad was a slightly unreal scenario of two Bharat Natyam dancers not going on stage so that they could finish off a bar of Silk. And a positively irritating ad about a mentally deficient boy who can't eat chocolate properly. (Statutory Disclaimer: I am a baby girl's father.)
How is Silk good? A smarmy guy like that would do anything to be with a cute girl. He would even be okay with sharing Haldiram's chiwda, if that's what gets him lucky.
I always felt that the Silk ad I liked best was never aired.
You are happy. You have chocolate. What are you giving up for that? Nothing. Okay, cool.
But here, the brand is saying, "Bugger, this Silk is so bloody good that you won't want to pick up your wife's call."
Wow. Like WOW! That's a claim worth sitting up and taking notice of.
And I also knew why they didn't air it. Because it was too edgy. It said all the wrong things. Abandoning your wife for some gooey chocolate? Hawww...
I wouldn't have run this ad if I were the Cadbury Silk Brand Manager. But as a Cadbury Silk fan, I can watch it again and again.
And call my wife back as soon as I finish the chocolate.
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