Cadbury's gorilla ad created a whole lot of hoo-ha in 2008/09. And 10million views on You Tube. I always thought most viewers missed the idea behind the ad: the anticipation of enjoying Cadbury Dairy Milk, and the sheer joy when you finally eat it. It was just a really funny, well made film. However, as I posted here, the media coverage explained the idea for Cadbury! So it sort of got across.
Even though the follow-up, Trucks, had more special effects, it was less effective. It got less coverage, less YouTube views, and so did less for the brand. The whole thing started to smell of a one-hit-wonder, not a true campaign. And the latest "Glass and a half full production" seems to confirm this. Watch it here, or click below if you're on the blog:
This really does strike me as "sponsored entertainment". Even when I try and analyse the ad, which of course no normal person will do, I don't get "joy of chocolate". What I do get is "bored, wierd kids messing about". It might get the brand noticed (500,000 views in 4 days is a lot), but without communicating much about the brand.
Most of the YouTube commments seemed to confirm this:
"That has got to be the worst advert I have seen for a long while and
also the girl looks a bit messed up,and what the hell is going on
with the balloon at the end. I think Cadbury's has finally lost it".
"What a weird advert. Cadbury stick to the Gorilla please."
In contrast, the T-Mobile "Dancers" ad I posted on earlier in the week seems stronger:
1. It is more rooted in the brand idea of "Life's for Sharing"
2. It feels like its campaignable, whereas the Cadbury ads feel like one-off creative ideas
3. The upbeat, positive feel-good tone strikes me as being much more in tune with what people want today.
