Cadbury Dairy Milk isn’t afraid of head-scratching advertisements. In the past, the company has given us everything from dancing monks to magically animated thrift-store apparel—none of which has had much relation to chocolate bars—so it comes as no surprise that the brand’s 2012 London Olympics campaign has so far been quite strange, to put it mildly. (For proof, check out this spot from Cadbury’s debut Olympics campaign, Stripes V. Spots.)
Cadbury Dairy Milk teamed up with agency Hypernaked for the "Keep Singing Keep Team GB Pumped" campaign, which aims to get the British singing power anthems to support their Olympics team. First up was Europe’s classic hit, “The Final Countdown.” And for their second spot, Hypernaked is tackling Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best”—in true Cadbury Dairy Milk fashion.
The spot opens in a gymnasium pool, where swimming champion and Olympics hopeful (and participant in the Stripes V. Spots campaign) Rebecca Adlington is training. A radio broadcast informs us that a rendition of “Simply the Best,” sung by hundreds of Brits, will play through underwater speakers to inspire Adlington as she swims laps. Sound heartwarming? A bit, yes, but verging on creepy.
Instead of just voices, we get a whole cast of characters—a butcher, a cafeteria lady, a sheep farmer, and a glam rock group just to name a few—singing to Adlington from the depths of the pool. The earnest message of “Simply the Best” might be encouraging, but as the spot proceeds, the water gets more and more crowded. The message? We're all in the water with her, rooting her on.
Agency: Hypernaked
Brand: Cadbury Dairy Milk
Creative Director: Oliver Green
Creative Team: Joseph Keirs & Sef Tedder
Executive Producer: Linda Paalanne
Producers: Matt Keen & Andy Bell
Director: Taika Waititi
Production Company: Hungry Man Films
