Hi-res winning ad (for all 5 of you that haven’t seen it yet)
I still love that thing…
Should this ad have an NSFW tag?
::snerk::
I remember this ad from last year. It’s like the ultimate drummer joke given form.
Well, he is holding at least two drumsticks…
I still don’t understand its appeal. It’s a take off on a Phil Collins video, but apart from that…? And there’s no reference to chocolate in it!
There is, in the context of the UK. The ‘glass and a half’ logo and the use of the colour purple both make it pure Cadbury.
i am extremely myopic, however i can spot cadbury purple in aisle 3, four counties away. it is a gift.
Well, yeah, but I didn’t mean the logo…I just meant the fact that a singing gorilla has little to do with chocolate.
I don’t really get it either. 
It’s an ad for a product that all the potential customers are already familiar with. Is there anyone in the UK who hasn’t already tried Cadbury’s chocolate? So they don’t need to say “Eat one of our candy bars”. Just keeping the brand in their minds is enough. A memorable commercial like this one does a great job of that. It’s so memorable that they don’t even have to pay to place the ads on TV to get people to watch it!
What gaffa said - what does a clown have to do with hamburgers?
Well generally he’s talking about them and passing them out and stuff. The gorilla… was just playing the drums. I don’t get it either. I don’t care that everyone already knows what the chocolate is like–I am annoyed by commercials that have exactly nothing to do with the product they are selling. If you want to make a short film of a gorilla playing the drums, go ahead and do it. But to call it an ad for chocolate? Nope, not seeing it.
I really didn’t grok it either at first glance. It requires a level of awareness about Cadbury’s product line, market presence & history that most Americans are not going to get. I’m not a huge Phil Collins fan so the ad seemed bit precious in demanding that I both know Cadbury, and think that combining it with a rock drummer gorilla made it extra cool. I can see why Cannes would love it as it’s clever for the euro market and production quality was very high.
It’s closest approximation in US terms would be the Chevy “like a rock” commercials that were almost pure metaphor with an old rock and roll song as the resonance.
"Why is the truck like piece of stone Bobby? Do Americans want rock like trucks, or is it for hauling rocks?
Never mind Jugdish…it’s…it’s just an Amercan thing."
Not to be snarky, but what is the point of such an ad? I mean, I’m American, but I have grown up with their products, eaten them since I was wee…and…I don’t get it! Clearly not reaching one of their target audience members.
It’s too elliptical and allusive for Americans. (didn’t Levis waaaay back in the 80s do an ad that didn’t display their logo at all? something about a guy named Travis. Liquor and financial products do this too…so, it’s been done here before, but we’re mostly concrete operationalists who like things spelled out.)
I know that sometimes I would look at the paper ads in the Tube stations and think huh? because if you’re not familiar with the product, you don’t have a clue what they’re regarding.
And I loves me some Cadbury.
Hey, I must protest, I’m American and I love that ad. It doesn’t have to relate to Cadbury.
Cadbury has some cool Indian ads, too…they are pretty innovative and creative.
I remember the big palaver over this ad and I must say I really couldn’t understand what the fuss was about, and I’m surely in the target market: British, 18-30 age group (at least when the ad came out), regular chocolate eater, hell I even play the drums.
But it’s just a guy in a gorilla suit miming fairly badly to a classic drum intro. What is it supposed to connect with or tap into?
The ethos behind the ad was: “it makes you smile, just like the chocolate bar does”.
You may all complain, but it really worked over here.
The gorilla has emotion. He has feeling. He has anima. It is an awesome ad, and for such a short ad, it certainly strikes to the heart.
I should ad that their latest commercial, a load of airport vehicles racing each other down a runway, really sucks arse.
Couldn’t agree more.
But I loved the gorilla. No, it has nothing to do with chocolate, but aren’t we all talking about it?