Darrell Lea declares it’s palm oil free with a famously familiar ad
Darrell Lea has declared its products are now completely free of palm oil with an ad that will appear familiar to chocolate lovers.
Bearing a striking resemblance to Cadbury’s famous Gorilla campaign, Darrell Lea’s use of the orangutan is a reference to how it has become an endangered species, due in part to the destruction of its habitat for palm oil production.
The campaign was created by Melbourne independent, Akkomplice, the same agency behind Darrell Lea’s short-lived spin on Yellow Pages’ ‘Not Happy Jan’, which ended with a cease and desist letter being issued to the brand and the agency.
So this agency answers every brief by ripping off the work of others? I hope they’re not charging their clients for original ideas.
No. What was left out of tis article is that Cadbury, one of the biggest consumers of palm oil in the world, has never publicly responded or taken a stance on palm oil. Zoos Victoria have been openly approaching them for years with no response. Even Nestle announced last year that they have a plan moving forward to begin removing palm oil from their recipes. This is Darrell Lea throwing down the gauntlet to Cadbury and well done to them and Akkomplice.
This is such a challenge to Cadbury – Darrell Lea has also bought Google search words for “Cadbury palm oil” to direct consumers to their website.
Even if this ad gets pulled like the “No Worries Jan” spot it will have delivered in terms of PR and talkability. It’s a really clever way to position a brand as an alternative to others who talk about transitioning to “segregated” Palm oil in their products but aren’t committing to no palm oil.
Brilliant! This will really get the jungle drums going.
Love Love Love the revamp of the ‘not happy jan’ ad.
I wonder what Cadbury’s view will be on it?
Pity both pieces of work for Darrel Lea To date by Akkomplice are ‘adaptations’ of other people’s ground breaking creative.
An original piece may have been better.
Great song choice never the less.
I did a double take when I saw this TVC. I couldnt believe how “familiar” it was. I actually showed my kids the Gorilla TVC on Youtube to make the point.
There aren’t a great deal of new ideas anymore but to completely derive a TVC from a market leader in ythe category is really poor.
What a fantastic way to get people talking about a thirteen year old Cadbury ad – and pay for the privilege. Is there ever going to be any PR about this that won’t include Cadbury’s most loved ad of all time side by side? Maybe the takeaway is that Cadbury makes it better and over a decade earlier.
That Cadbury ad still holds up today. Not just a classic but a timeless classic.
You are right that every PR piece that runs them side by side will only strengthen Cadbury and show how this rip off ad is an unimaginative response.
Maybe during Covid people have decided that ripping off the market leaders is the way to go – the ‘Big Jack’ is another example of a bad rip off attempt.
It’s clearly a dig at Cadbury and the fact that they still use palm oil. Even says at the end about our choices and it’s effect. So choose Darrell lea not Cadbury.
Absolute disgrace.
Couple of big swings & misses here in the comments!
Most people are missing the point of the ad! Darrell Lea is thumbing their nose at Cadbury who still use palm oil! Was never a fan of the gorilla being used but this ad with the orangutan is genius. Well done to the ad company and Darrell Lea….very clever and their chocolate is great??
So I assume the agency and client forgot about the internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo
love this ad ??
Loving your ad !!! Well done!!!
What an amazing commercial. I’m sill not sure if the orangutan was brought to life using special effects or real.
Silly question, I know.
MG.
This is a brilliant ad from Darrell Lea and Akkomplice. To all of you who are calling it out as being a knock-off of Cadbury’s famous gorilla ad, a little bit of background for you:
Cadbury is one of the largest consumers of palm oil in the world. They have never publicly responded or taken a stance on the issue, Zoos Victoria has approached them repeatedly over the years to no avail. Even Nestle announced last year that they have a plan in place to begin removing palm oil from their products in the coming years. This is no rip-off, it is a direct message to Cadbury – we have removed palm oil from our products, will you do the same?
The Cadbury ad was better but the Darrell Lea ad is also enjoyable, a great way to send the message about not using palm oil.
Does this agency not have people that are able to come up with unique and original ideas that it has to resort to basically ripping off a competitors? Great message and so important but because of the lack of originality in the idea, the message is getting lost and I’m sorry but nobody I know that has seen it has made any emotional connection with the eyes of the gorilla in it. Get the message out there but instead of plagiarising others work, produce something unique.