The older they get, the more the years start to blur into each other. There can be no better example of this than the message we got from Cadbury saying they're bringing back their classic advertising tagline 'How do you eat yours?'.
To us, it doesn't feel like long since it appeared on our TV screens, but apparently, it was a full 20 years ago, in 2004. Well, that's us told.
Anyway, for those too young to remember it, the original campaign – which began in the 1980s – was based on the idea that everyone has their own way of eating a Cadbury's Creme Egg, ranging from eating them whole to using a teaspoon, and even spreading them on toast.
The new spot, titled Big Deal, was created by the brand's global agency of record VCCP London. It's all part of a digital-first campaign, which includes an online personality test.
Personality revealed
The 30-second commercial focuses on Heather, who likes to eat a Creme Egg while maintaining eye contact. The voiceover points out that it means she's kind of a big deal and that the way she eats her Creme Egg reveals a lot about her.
We're told she's unashamedly bold and full of unusual quirks and habits, whether ordering for the whole table in restaurants or inventing her own words to songs at karaoke. All of these personality traits and passions are revealed, apparently, simply by how Heather eats a Creme Egg.
The suggestion is that this tells us everything you need to know about a person, from their little quirks all the way to their ideal profession and favourite Spotify playlist.
As Simon Connor, creative director at VCCP London, says with tongue-in-check: "How you eat a Creme Egg says a lot about you. What if it could tell you EVERYTHING? Using 'real' science, we can now extrapolate your entire personality from How You Eat Yours. We can tell you what music you should listen to, where you should go on holiday and even who you should date."
Isn't it ironic?
It's a classic advertising approach: telling people that they'll be thought of as fun, original and spontaneous if they, er, buy specific mass-market products. If this message were delivered straight, people would quickly identify the paradox, but by filtering it through the lens of wit and irony, the brand manages to get away with it.
VCCP's global content creation studio Girl&Bear worked with award-winning directing duo Terri Timely and Park Pictures to bring the ad to life.
The voiceover was provided by Matt King, aka Super Hans from Peep Show, who brings a suitable level of offbeat comedy to the video and radio assets.
Online and outdoors
With a digital-first strategy, the fully integrated campaign encourages the public to take an online personality test to discover what their creme egg-eating technique reveals about them, with the interactive website and strategy created by Bernadette, VCCP's digital innovation company.
This campaign also features bold fly-poster-style ads on outdoor and social media. These bring to life different Creme Egg eating styles and the weirdly relatable personality traits that go with them, directing people to the full online test experience.
The campaign will run throughout the UK and ROI across AV, D/OOH, audio, social, print and digital with media planning and buying led by Publicis, owned-channel activity by Elvis and PR managed by Ogilvy.
