Cadbury, one of the most well-known British brands, is marking a major milestone by showcasing its role in everyday celebrations over the past 200 years.
The Mondelēz International brand’s anniversary campaign, “Yours for 200 Years,” leans heavily into nostalgia and remixes a popular ad from 2018, “Mum’s Birthday.” That spot was part of an overhaul of its marketing by agency VCCP and proved effective for the business.
The new version of that film tells the same story but moves subtly through the eras. It starts with a busy mother working in a kitchen and flagging down a horse-drawn carriage to catch a ride to her daughter’s school.
The styles and vehicles on the street change over the course of the ad as she takes a call in a phone booth while her child ducks into a corner shop to buy a Cadbury bar—sweetly paying with buttons. The girl emerges in the modern day to present her mother with a sweet birthday gift.
Frederic Planchon directed both the new “Birthday” spot and the original Mum’s Birthday, with global content creation studio Girl&Bear reuniting most of the original cast.
“It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to celebrate a 200th anniversary,” Cadbury senior marketing director Elise Burditt said in a statement. “But for us this is so much more than that—it’s celebrating 200 years of being part of the lives of the British public and recognizing that we wouldn’t be here today without them. We want to demonstrate that the values upon which Cadbury was founded in Birmingham 200 years ago still ring true today with people, and with a generous spirit at the heart of everything we do.”
The brand drove that idea home with a competition that gathered old pictures of families enjoying Cadbury products. The images feature in social media and out-of-home ads, which also incorporate retro posters illustrated in the styles of different eras.
Cadbury is further tapping into nostalgia with the release of seven limited-edition Cadbury Dairy Milk bars using classic designs from the history of the brand, which first launched in 1905.
CREDITS:
Advertising agency: VCCP
Executive creative directors: Jonny Parker, Chris Birch
Creative director: Angus Vine
Senior creative team: Ben Evans, Adam Sears
Group managing director: David Boscawen
Managing partner: Matt Smith
Senior account director: Tom Carr
Account director: Bella Johnston
Senior account manager: Fiona Hanna
Account manager: Maddie Jones
Account executive: Ellie Rhodes
Planning director: Ollie Gilmore
Senior planner: Alana King, Charlotte O’Brien
Content creation studio: Girl&Bear
Senior integrated producers: David Vass, Gaynor Goldring
Integrated producer: Connor Kilkelly
Senior TV producer: Carly Parris
Production assistant: Maddy Holmes
Head of broadcast affairs: Alexia Collins
Head of art: Ali Augur
Illustrators: Archie Proudfoot and Carol Lawson (CIA), Chris Wormel (The Artworks), Bruce Emmett (Flio), Vince McIndoe (DebutArt)
Design director: Adam Edwards
Designers: Tegan Barnes, Carl Sherry
Artworkers: Nilesh Parmar, Lee Forster
Junior resource manager: Yasmine Moridi
Studio manager: James Perry
Assistant studio manager: Sam Weight
Post producer: Gerda Aleksandraviciute
Social editor: Gareth Jivan Philips
Production company: Academy Films
Director: Frederic Planchon
Director of production: Jakob Ihre
Production designer: Sophie Becher
Executive producer: Medb Riordan
Producer: Jacob Hyam
Audio company: King Lear Music & Sound
Sound engineer: Jack Sedgwick
Colorist: Jean-Clément Soret, Company 3, London
Color EP: Ellora Soret
Color assists: Santino Napolitano, Jack Kennedy, Karl Pasamonte
Postproduction company: Selected Works
Creative director: Greg Spencer
Art director: Amber Frisenda
VFX supervisors: Greg Spencer, Amber Frisenda, Dave Hempstead
2D artists: Rich Roberts, Gary Driver, Mahesh Chandrasekaran, Theajo Dharan, Georgie Ford, Valeria Scalamandre
DMP artists: Lyndall Spagnoletti, Kirsty Cutler, Chris Wilson
Online artists: Eileen Chan, Nick Sze, Dave Wishart
Executive post producer: Alex Fitzgerald
Post producer: Libby Gandhi
Stills post production: Stanley’s Post
Media buying agency: Publicis
Media planner: Lynne Quinn, Lauren Nolan, George Pearcy
