Why We Didn't Know About Craft Chocolate - Part Two of Three

This post combines our two loves. Chocolate and Advertising.

We have so many chocolate ads stashed away in the corners of our brains. And that’s because they do it SO WELL.

Cadbury (Mondelez), Nestle. Lindt. Hershey’s. These are some of the biggest names in the commercial chocolate industry and they all have two things in common.

• Huge marketing spend
• The same key ingredient is absent in all of their major marketing campaigns. (Do you know what it is?)

But before we get to that:

How do you define advertising?

Is it the branding? The slogan? The combination of words, jingles and images designed to remind you of their product?

In it’s most basic form. Yes.

From spend alone, it’s clear that marketing is a high priority for commercial chocolate brands. Each detailed included in an advertising campaign has been scrutinized and has a purpose.

Check out these marketing numbers from a couple of years ago:

• In the 30 days leading up to Easter 2022, U.S. advertisers in “Confections & Snacks” spent more than $5 million on Easter-themed advertising.
• In 2021, Hershey’s along spent $5.9 million on their Easter campaign, which includes their “Fill It With Love” ads. (They dropped this to a mere $1.3 million in 2022.)
• And interestingly, Ferrero’s 30 day Easter budget increased 350% to $1 million in 2022!

– (source: SensorTower, a Digital Intelligence and Analytics company that uses data to find market insights into the trends shaping global businesses)

These numbers aren’t small and it’s clear the intention is to do more than just introduce their products or remind us they exist.

“You are the product. You feel something. That’s what sells”

Don Draper – Mad Men

Consumers have to leave that ad feeling like they want it.

That ad needs to stick to their minds and come forward just as they’re about to buy a block of chocolate.

This level of intent plus the amount of money dedicated to driving that message home, shows that marketing is taken very seriously.

With this in mind, we can’t help but notice one key omission.

Their advertising very rarely (almost never!) show cacao beans or cacao pods in their advertising.

That’s right, the core ingredient that is used to make chocolate is almost never featured. Commercial chocolate ads only show us molten chocolate or the formed chocolate bar (or sometimes no chocolate at all!)

It’s to the point that in all our years of growing up and seeing millions of dollars worth of chocolate advertising, we didn’t even know what a cacao pod or bean looked like. We didn’t even know chocolate came from a cacao tree!

We’ll do a deeper dive into ads at a later stage (stay tuned for a link!) For now we’ll stick to these examples:

• Hershey’s – Their 2021 Easter campaign “Fill It With Love” displayed families sharing colorfully wrapped Easter eggs and bunnies. And not much more.
• Cadbury – We will never forget their gorilla playing the drums in time to some classic Phil Collins. No cacao here (but there is a “Glass and a half full of joy” in there!)
• Lindt – They’ve got a chocolatier! Someone making chocolate is a step in the right direction. But all we’re shown is glossy molten chocolate that’s “Made to Melt You”. No cacao here either.
• Ferrero Rocher – a huge tower of gold foil balls that Tinkerbell gold dust everywhere….
• (And interestingly, in 2024, Ferrero went all in, increasing their year on year spend by 90% with their “Celebrate the Moment” campaign. More gold Tinkerbell dust.)

The taglines “A Glass and a Half Full of Joy”, “Fill it With Love”, “Made to Melt You” and “Celebrate the Moment” are designed to make you feel something.

The imagery and the music is meant to bury itself in your heads. All to increase sales and it works every time.

They have the means and the funding to reach chocolate lovers all over the world.

What disappoints us is, in the past two years of advertising, not a single cacao bean or cacao pod has been shown. Let alone a cacao farmer or any of the processes to harvest, ferment or roast the beans. Each of these crucial stages are very rarely (or never!) shown.

Why does this affect how much we know about craft chocolate?

As a chocolate eater, we never thought about where our chocolate bar came from. Similarly to this article on shopping convenience, our own ignorance has led us to this point.

But at the same time, big chocolate companies haven’t asked us to look into it. When you think about other foods on the market, they tend to share where their product comes from:

• Wide, sprawling wheat fields for bread.
• Millions and millions of grapes to make wine.
• And fields of cows for dairy products.
• And at the dearer end of the scale, they tend to go one step further and detail the care taken to make their products.

Commercial chocolate brands have shifted our focus elsewhere – to “fine chocolate”, “smooth chocolate” and “funsize treats.” And it’s such a shame because there’s so much more to it.

And not just in terms of chocolate and flavours, but the people behind it all too.

So what can we do?

Firstly, brace yourselves for another Mad Men quote.

Secondly:

“If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

Don Draper – Mad Men

Now it’s not that we don’t like the conversation. The ads are pretty, they’re entertaining and they highlight the maker’s brand. But we do feel that more could be said. We’re also well aware that the big brands can position themselves however they want to.

And while it would be great if they took steps to show us where their cacao comes from, something tells us the chances of this happening is extremely low.

But that’s another article.

For now, enjoy the ads, keep looking for your next chocolate adventure, and stay tuned for Reason Three! (And comment below! Have you ever seen a cacao pod / bean / tree in a chocolate ad?)

That’s it from us (for now!) We’ll be back soon and as always, thanks heaps for talking beans with us.

Where to next?

Reason 3 will be here once it’s up! In the meantime, if you enjoyed this Chocolate Coated Thought, we recommend:

And if you’re curious, we recommend:

And if you’re still not so sure, check out what events or makers are in your area:

Talk Beans with us!

Got any questions? Feedback? Want to hi say? Reach out below – we’re always happy to chat!

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