# Cadbury Gorilla takes home ad award banana from Cannes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 24, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121 "2008-06-24T22:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/1 "2008-06-24T22:47:02Z")
[Story](http://www.cadbury.com:85/media/press/Pages/gorillascoopsadaward.aspx) > [@](#): > > The ad scooped the Grand Prix award beating off competition from more than 4,000 shortlisted entries around the globe. Cannes is seen as the “Oscars” of the ad world – and this major prize tops off a remarkable year for the CDM commercial. [Hi-res winning ad](http://www.glassandahalffull.com/#/gorilla/ads/) (for all 5 of you that haven’t seen it yet) I still love that thing… ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/2 "2008-06-24T22:51:19Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > …beating off competition from more than 4,000 shortlisted entries around the globe. Should this ad have an NSFW tag? ::snerk:: I remember this ad from last year. It’s like the ultimate drummer joke given form. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/3 "2008-06-24T22:53:24Z")
Well, he is holding at least two drumsticks… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/4 "2008-06-24T22:53:42Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/5 "2008-06-24T23:08:19Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] And there’s no reference to chocolate in it! [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/6 "2008-06-24T23:58:38Z")
i am extremely myopic, however i can spot cadbury purple in aisle 3, four counties away. it is a gift. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/7 "2008-06-25T00:25:29Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] 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. [/QUOTE] Well, yeah, but I didn’t mean the logo…I just meant the fact that a singing gorilla has little to do with chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/8 "2008-06-25T00:36:35Z")
I don’t really get it either. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/9 "2008-06-25T04:24:46Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/10 "2008-06-25T05:38:43Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Well, yeah, but I didn’t mean the logo…I just meant the fact that a singing gorilla has little to do with chocolate. [/QUOTE] What **gaffa** said - what does a clown have to do with hamburgers? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/11 "2008-06-25T05:49:05Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] What **gaffa** said - what does a clown have to do with hamburgers? [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/12 "2008-06-25T08:42:43Z")
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." ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/13 "2008-06-25T12:18:31Z")
[QUOTE=astro] 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. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/14 "2008-06-25T13:43:04Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] 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! [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/15 "2008-06-25T13:51:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/16 "2008-06-25T13:58:37Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/17 "2008-06-25T14:05:00Z")
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. [My earlier thread for the ad](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=439141). ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/18 "2008-06-25T14:12:19Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/19 "2008-06-25T14:13:09Z")
I should ad that their latest commercial, a load of airport vehicles racing each other down a runway, really sucks arse. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121/20 "2008-06-25T14:47:08Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I should ad that their latest commercial, a load of airport vehicles racing each other down a runway, really sucks arse. [/QUOTE] 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? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cadbury-gorilla-takes-home-ad-award-banana-from-cannes/454121.md?page=2)