I’d promised myself that I wasn’t going to blog about the gorilla seeing as practically the rest of the world had done so already. But, having watched the clip a couple of times now, I feel that it may warrant a post after all.
The gorilla in question is of course the Phil Collins loving primate that Cadbury spawned at a reputed price of over £6 million. Take a minute to let that sink in.
£6 million!!! How many chocolate bars is Cadbury going to have to sell to recoup that?
Watching the clip for the first time I found it amusing and ended up forwarding it on to a couple of friends for a good laugh. However, I saw no connection between a musical primate and a chocolate bar.
Scratching my head at the extravagant sum of money thrown at this campaign I watched the ad a few more times over this past week, and I must say that the more I watch it, the more I like it.
It’s the type of thing that brightens up your day. And the whole ‘Minute and a Half of Joy’ does somewhat fit in with Cadbury’s ‘Glass and a Half Full’ slogan.
The problem is that it requires prolonged exposure to the ad in order for this generated goodwill to be tied in with the brand itself. Fine, it starts off with the Cadbury colours, logo and name, but that all goes out the window at first sight of an emotional silverback.
This is a great advert - for television. Pumped out time and time again during appropriate shows the emotional response that it generates can be really powerful.
As a viral though, it falls short. I wouldn’t have watched this more than once or twice if I hadn’t been thinking about writing this post. And there would have been no time for any connection to form between what I was seeing and Cadbury as a brand.
This is the type of ad that needs to be put in front of viewers – not one that will thrive on user-propulsion.
Muti
Comments
Perhaps the sole intention was to create something to talk about - much like you and many others are talking and writing about around the world. How many times do you think the brand has been mentioned in emails, blogs, search engines... all doing wonders for the brand as a whole?
Do a search on the company in question and you will see that there is a facebook group that was created due to the ad. It seems to have made news headlines across the world... so as "crap" as some may find it you can guarantee it is getting them more than GBP6 million exposure.
Yeah Johan, not many arguments from my side on your points. But I find it hard to believe that a brand like Cadbury would spend that amount with the sole intention of making noise.
If I was going to pour that amount into an ad I'd hope that it would do a lot more. I think I'm viewing this clip not as an example of what a good viral shouldn't be, but rather the lack of what a fantastic one could be.
I dunno - not a bad ad, but not good enough to justify the spend. No matter if it makes positive ROI or not, I'll look at this and always think of the opportunity cost.
But we have seen ads that would by all accounts be ranked as downright horrible become sensational success stories.
At the end of the day there's no accounting for taste (maybe why, despite my better judgment, I do like the big fur-ball).
Will people STOP trying to read things into this advert with the gorilla!!? ITS MEANT TO BE FUN!!!!!
Its an ADVERT for goodness sake!!
I recorded it on my sky plus and watch it over and over because its PURE GENIUS!!
Are people so shallow that they cant give credit where credit is due???
EVERYTHING about the advert is brilliant!
The fact the some people think is a REAL gorilla, the brilliantly amazing way the gorilla moves, the passion of the beast and the fact that is ONLY ABOUT CHOCOLATE!!!!!
EVERYONE is talking about it so as adverts go...its pretty on the money!!!
I love this advert and I always will consider it one of the best ideas (for an ad) that I have seen in a long while!!!
Watch the video again and switch off your 'adult radar' and see it for what it is!!
Peace out my friends
Donna :o)
The Gorilla reminds me of The Restless Natives drummer, Kesivan, Tuesday nights at Asoka.
I just took the time to download the clip - wonderful stuff... as much as it works as an advertising campaign my mind automatically slips to the other "more sinister" use... image the pranks you could play with a consume which has that level of detail, my mind boggles (and this is why the directors approved the whopping price tag - they probably take turns using it for office pranks - sigh, marketing budget well spent :p )
Hey Donna - your comment reminds me of a quote from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
"It's candy. It doesn't have to have a point."
I love the ad, but want to download it, any idea where you can do this.
Not just to watch but to keep
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I despise Phil Collins and large apes have freaked me out ever since my brother let me watch the original Planet of the Apes when I was a little too young to separate Sci-fi from reality. This advert totally freaks me out.
On a professional note I think its also pretty crap. First the Olympic logo and now this. Tsk tsk.
Posted by Heidi on 2007/09/17