Confectionery company Tony’s Chocolonely has launched a marketing campaign to encourage people to eat less chocolate to improve their health.
Acknowledging that eating too much chocolate is bad for your health, the brand is encouraging the rest of the chocolate confectionery to join them to play a bigger role in educating consumers about sugar consumption. They are also planning to use their packaging to promote moderation, openly admitting that they are part of the problem when it comes to sugar and unhealthy eating habits.
Tony’s Chocolonely have stood out in the confectionary market as they have marketed their ethical campaigning to make all chocolate 100% slave free in their packaging and website. In their Christmas 2021 advent calendar, they left one window empty to highlight slave labour practices in the chocolate industry, causing floods of criticism from parents.
Discussing the campaign with The Drum, Chief Marketing Officer Jo Lane commented: “Our hope is that by speaking out on important matters, no matter how uncomfortable they are, we drive awareness and change for the better.”
This is potentially a damned if they do and damned if they don’t issue for a chocolate company There will always be cynicism about their motives, but well done to Tony’s for tackling it in a balanced, non-hyperbolic way. It helps raise the issue and the need for debate, but it only works because the brand has a strong history in authentic brand messaging with purpose. The message fits the brand and builds its point of difference. It is an example of why brands continue to drive so many categories – they have a unique ability to move beyond the functionality of the product. In areas like purpose or cultural messaging they can easily take this too far and lose relevance, but Tony’s consistently gets the balance right.
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