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.
By eliminating palm oil from its products, Darrell Lea is living by its brand platform ‘Makes it better’, marketing director Tim Stanford said.
“There is growing awareness of the devastating impacts on natural habitats and endangered species associated with palm oil production,” he said.
“Our consumers told us they would prefer our products to be palm oil free. We listened and we took action.”
Palm oil is the world’s most widely consumed form of vegetable oil. Demand is driven by the low price of its production and the high yield of the crops compared to other forms of vegetable oil. It thrives in the tropics – 90% is grown on a few islands in Malaysia and Indonesia, but its production threatens the habitat of orangutans.
Darrell Lea’s ad, set to George Michael’s ‘Freedom ‘90’, is rounded out by the line ‘The choices you make can change her world’.
Akkomplice executive creative director Sara Oteri said: “It’s not every day that you get to produce work that you know will have such a tangible and positive impact on our world.”
Kenny Hill, founder of Akkomplice, added: “Darrell Lea is exactly the ambitious and rare breed of client that we love working with. They actively embrace ambitious creative and really run with it, so it’s wonderful to see the incredible success that the brand is enjoying.”
Stanford said: “Akkomplice has again demonstrated their passion for our brand by delivering work that will start conversations and have a tremendous impact on our business.
“The ad of an orangutan in a rainforest perfectly encapsulates our brief which was to announce that Darrell Lea is now 100% palm oil-free. It’s a very emotional ad. The eyes of the orangutan are a great connection.”
The ad was directed by Mitch Kennedy and visual effects specialists Alt VFX brought the orangutan to life.
The campaign launched last night, and is running across TV, social media and outdoor. Online content has also been developed to educate consumers on palm oil and Darrell Lea’s process of removing it from its products.
Credits
Client: Tim Stanford – Marketing Director, Darrell Lea
Agency: Akkomplice
Founder & Creative Director: Kenny Hill
Executive Creative Director: Sara Oteri
Account Manager: Nicole Torrington
Graphic Designer: Nathan Herbertson
Production Company: The Producers
Executive Producer: Noelle Jones
Director: Mitch Kennedy
DoP: Kieran Fowler NZCS ACS
Post Production: ALT VFX
Music licensing: Music Mill
Final Audio Mix: Bang Bang Studio – Tristan Dewey
Media planning & buying: Rapid Media
Digital performance: Voyance
PR: Birds of Prey PR & Communications
So this agency answers every brief by ripping off the work of others? I hope they’re not charging their clients for original ideas.
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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.
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Brilliant! This will really get the jungle drums going.
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Love Love Love the revamp of the ‘not happy jan’ ad.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Absolute disgrace.
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Couple of big swings & misses here in the comments!
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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??
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So I assume the agency and client forgot about the internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo
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love this ad ??
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Loving your ad !!! Well done!!!
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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