Comments on: Warning: This is an ad

Warning: This is an ad

sveskemus — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:15:52 -0800

This is an ad.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:19:55 -0800

Koko watch man die in pool. Koko no help. Apple. Pretty.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:21:15 -0800

MEH! COME AGAIN?!

By: FritoKAL

FritoKAL — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:24:18 -0800

I am so confused. My fiance is equally as confused. We were talking today about how ads aren't really about the immediate, but a continual association of product to emotion. I am not sure why the people at Cadbury want me to associate their chocolate with being very very VERY confused, but there you go.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:25:31 -0800

Pepsi... Tradmarked Cadbury Purple!?

By: OrangeDrink

OrangeDrink — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:25:53 -0800

I'd rather buy chocolate from this guy

By: wires

wires — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:26:08 -0800

I liked. I liked alot. But I'm not going to buy the product.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:36:19 -0800

Phil Collins has sure turned hairy!

By: Manjusri

Manjusri — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:36:51 -0800

As I understand it, they don't care what you associate the product with, just that you become familiar with the brand. So when you are looking at a row of chocolate bars, that familiarity subconsciously directs you to choose theirs. That's why they repeat the same annoying commercial several times in the same show. They don't care that they are annoying the hell out of you, they are counting on the subconscious effect. The perplexing commercials are intended to get you thinking about the why, and hopefully who. If they actually succeed to the point of making you repeat the brand name out loud or online, that's complete success.

By: darksasami

darksasami — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:41:13 -0800

Cute concept, but closeups of primate faces always put me off my appetite. This includes humans. (I almost typed that as primate facie, and I've never even thought about studying law. Disturbing.)

By: Cat Pie Hurts

Cat Pie Hurts — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:50:36 -0800

3/4 of the way in and I'm still thinking ,"Gorilla getting a blowjob? What are they selling? I just may buy it."

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:54:23 -0800

Uncandy Valley

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:04:15 -0800

I thought it was great. A couple of thought's I'm to lazy to cohere into paragraph form: 1) There has been a recent sort of explosion of 'gourmet' consumer food products. Kettle cooked potato chips, organic everything, etc. 2) This has definitely hit the chocolate industry. From noka on down, you see an emphasis on purity, exceptionally. And so on. Recently I've noticed Hershey's 'cocoa reserve' chocolate bars in the checkout isle. They're twice as expensive as regular chocolate bars (but do taste better, IMO). A lot of the 'gourmet' chocolate is dark chocolate. 3) I think this is an attempt to play off that disparity by trying to indicate a higher quality of milk (it's "dairy") in milk chocolate. 4) A lot of this (IMO) is due to rising income inequality, as higher middle class people have much more disposable income to spend on junk food that pretends to be classy.

By: oddman

oddman — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:04:57 -0800

cute add. Single link worthy? Nope, no.

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:11:23 -0800

[This is not an appropriate front-page post.]

By: xmutex

xmutex — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:12:29 -0800

Christ that's awesome.

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:12:34 -0800

I kept seeing his nostrils flare and thinking: "man, when are they gonna give that poor monkey his damn chocolate bar" - then they lost me with the drumming, meh.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:17:39 -0800

delmoi - There was a very interesting special on the Discovery Times channel a couple of months ago called "The Chocolate Wars" which focused primarily on the rivalry between Hersheys and Mars, but it also touched on the new market for "gourmet chocolates".

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:47:56 -0800

Perhaps the chocolate has mild hallucinogenic properties?

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:25:27 -0800

the animation was good but it was not worth it because I was subjected to the work of Phil Collins.

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:54:58 -0800

that damn dirty ape can whail

By: Hargrimm

Hargrimm — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:01:22 -0800

Okay... guy in a monkey suit with an animatronic head pretending to play drums for... chocolate. Not fpp material, in my opinion.

By: Tube

Tube — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:04:42 -0800

This is cooler than fuck. This is as cool as ice cream, dry socks, and Led Zeppelin combined. Truly impressive how the eyelids blink and the nostrils flare slightly. The "tell" that it's a guy-in-a-suit is of course that a gorilla could not move its neck and head around like that. As a Bigfoot skeptic, I'm also impressed with this demonstration of just how good ape-suit technology can be. For many years, advocates of the Patterson - Gimlin Bigfoot film have been claiming that "in 40 years no one has produced an ape suit equivalent to what we see in the Patterson film". That this claim is nonsense is well demonstrated here. Also, gorillas are cooler than Phil Collins.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 21:29:19 -0800

I liked it. Cadbury Crunchies (milk chocolate over a honey comb center) are about the best thing on the planet.

By: dhammond

dhammond — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:06:38 -0800

It's all been a pack of lies.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:27:56 -0800

I saw what you did (there).

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:28:21 -0800

Saw it with my own two eyes, even.

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:48:55 -0800

This is cool. It's initially mysterious, and then it's funny, and then it's over. Ta-da. Yay for this being an fpp. Not everything has to be some hyper-researched, link-saturated, self-important piece of writing punctuated with inane, half-rhetorical questions. Sometimes it's okay to enjoy 90 seconds of a soon-to-be-drumming fake-monkey.

By: McLir

McLir — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:51:13 -0800

Where's my link to the Samsonite gorilla?

By: Poolio

Poolio — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:14:51 -0800

Your Favorite Primate Sucks.

By: lisa g

lisa g — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:13:45 -0800

For a moment I was sure this was an ad for a new Phil Collins greatest-hits compilation. (I'll take the chocolate.)

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:29:58 -0800

MetaFilter: 90 seconds of a soon-to-be-drumming fake-monkey.

By: malevolent

malevolent — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:34:58 -0800

It's a shame it's an ad for Cadbury; instead of being associated with an edgy, emotive brand that could get the most out of the idea, it's a short-term gimmick for a safe, dull, family product that can't and won't fundamentally change its image.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:43:28 -0800

No jacket required, if you're a guy in a monkey suit. Seriously, just how good ape-suit technology can be? It screams guy in a monkey suit. And then throws poo at you.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:50:24 -0800

I associate Cadbury with deliberate criminal samonella contamination. The commercial is fun but a company that knowingly ships food poisoning for months after detection not so much.

By: John of Michigan

John of Michigan — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:41:53 -0800

More monkey fun. (You gotta watch all the way through for the punchline. It's not all just monkey lovin'.)

By: mistersquid

mistersquid — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:00:12 -0800

Dear consumer culture tools: "If you have something to say about [a piece of] advertising, some analysis or even corroboration, fine. I don't think product advocacy is a problem. But if your link to an advertisement is motivated by the idea that you enjoyed watching the advert and you think others might, too, you have become a tool of corporate interest, so hypnotized by consumer culture you no longer can tell the difference between fill and content."

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:26:50 -0800

Critters and food go together?

By: 23skidoo

23skidoo — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 08:40:25 -0800

Monkey Drummer!

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:23:03 -0800

Lancelot Link & The Evolution Revolution!

By: naoko

naoko — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 11:08:58 -0800

It's an ape, y'all. Not a monkey. Just FYI. Also, I don't get it.

By: Samizdata

Samizdata — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:06:35 -0800

Just a heads up. I head what I refer to as a "primate friendly" household. So I liked it. And, to top off the treat, another taste of contrarian cephalopod. (I can understand Firefox's spelling checker not catching contrarian, but cephalopod?)

By: batmonkey

batmonkey — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:34:56 -0800

I got it. And enjoyed the hell out of it. The point is the "joy" in the campaign title. An ape. Listening intently to one of the most jammin'est songs ever. Slowly revealed to be behind a drum kit. And then that ape just lays it down. It was joy. Pure joy. For the ape, for those who got it, and, Cadbury hopes, enough to tie the concept of that kind of over-the-top yay to consumption of their product. It's a good effort from the creative minds at the agency who did the ad, it's on the web, and you don't have to absorb every marketing message you're exposed to.

By: mistersquid

mistersquid — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:34:57 -0800

Thanks, Samizdata, for calling me out on my sometimes contrarian ravings. By way of explanation to anyone wondering what's in my craw: I'm not always so crotchety, really, but the back-to-work of the new academic year has got me yelling "Get off my lawn!" I don't take any of this too seriously and don't intend to offend my fellow MeFis. Irritate a little, maybe.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:40:02 -0800

Phil Collins would kill have to have that much hair on his head.

By: nyfin

nyfin — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:26:10 -0800

Lisa - Phil Collins already released a greatest hits album in 1998, imaginatively titled "Hits". About as palatable as raw cocoa. (No pun intended, Fossey fans). Before he started making middle-of-the-road milquetoast, he was a world-class drummer. Check out a decidedly hairier Phil Collins with Brand X, and peep him behind the drumset in this recording for Band Aid 1984.

By: vronsky

vronsky — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:41:41 -0800

He played on a lot of Eno's solo stuff too.

By: pineapple

pineapple — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:45:10 -0800

From noka on down, you see an emphasis on purity, exceptionally. I think you mean, "from Noka on up."

By: Deathalicious

Deathalicious — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:13:35 -0800

I hate milk in chocolate. 1 and a half cups (per bar, I assume? Not even sure how that would be possible) no thank you. I'll keep my chocolate dark, thank you.

By: Lucie

Lucie — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:44:37 -0800

FYI, the 'glass and a half' slogan has been around for at least 15 or so years. And I think that's per 250gm block or something.

By: triv

triv — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 05:18:33 -0800

I inadvertently watched this advert whilst I was chatting to a friend over the weekend. We both stopped mid sentence, as the gorilla started drumming in a WTF? type moment. I knew it was Cadburys as I'd seen the purple and glass is half full branding, which has been a staple of their brand for as long as I can remember. The thing that got both of us, was that: a) we recognised it straight away as a Cadburys advert b) it made no sense c) what exactly was the message and how did it relate to Cadburys? It seemed more like a Phil Collins greatest hits collection advert than anything else. Still, great advert for the complete suckerpunch at the end.

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 04:17:32 -0800

Brilliant! (Though as srboisvert says above, not quite enough to shift the current Cadbury chocolate association with dirty pipes leaking salmonella into their chocolate bars.)