Forget cacao percentages and tasting notes of tree bark… Bournville is back with a brilliantly silly campaign that aims the pomp and pretension of dark chocolate culture.
2025 is fast becoming the year of the comeback. Oasis are back on stage, bucket hats are once again on heads everywhere, and even hot summers have returned with a vengeance. And now Bournville – the smooth dark chocolate that’s been quietly sitting on shelves since the 1970s – has stepped back into the spotlight with a campaign that gleefully tears into the pomp of dark chocolate culture.
Cadbury has dusted off one of its most iconic bars for a big return. The film, created by VCCP, aims to launch its big “I’m back” moment by taking on the kind of dark chocolate elitism that leaves most people rolling their eyes. Two aficionados puff out their chests, sparring over obscure cacao origins and absurd tasting notes, each trying to out-snob the other. Meanwhile, a lone Bournville fan looks on, blissfully enjoying a chunk of chocolate without the theatrics. It’s a comic mic drop for a bar that’s never needed to shout.
The spot was brought to life by comedy director Harold Einstein with the script written by VCCP creatives Alice Goodrich, Lara Baxter and Simon Connor, alongside BAFTA-winning writer Simon Blackwell (Veep, Peep Show, The Thick of It), who sharpened the jokes and helped dial up the satire. The result? A film that takes category clichés and gleefully turns them on their head.
And Bournville isn’t just stopping at TV. The campaign spills out across out-of-home, radio, YouTube, and social, all wrapped in bold red-and-white branding that celebrates the bar’s heritage with a refreshed, vintage-modern twist. Striking OOH executions show oversized glossy chunks of chocolate set against punchy red backgrounds – simple, confident, and unmistakably Bournville.
For Mondelez, the message is clear. “This work is a confident reappraisal of a chocolate that’s been quietly loved for decades,” said Elise Burditt, senior marketing director. “With this campaign, we’re bringing Bournville back into the national conversation – but in a way that reflects the times.”
VCCP’s Chris Birch and Jonny Parker added their own cheeky take: “Bournville. The chocolate that just observes as all the other chocolates around it slowly lose their minds – chasing the latest fads and fashions.”
Or, as Creative Director Simon Connor put it more bluntly: “Bournville is an OG dark chocolate from a time before tasting notes of tree bark and percentages that would make your mouth cry.”
With production by Outsider, media by Publicis Media UK, and supporting social and eCRM activity from Elvis, the campaign is already live across the UK. It’s a legendary bar returning with legendary wit and a reminder that sometimes, chocolate really is just meant to be enjoyed.
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