Cadbury celebrates generosity with South African campaign

VCCP work supports drive to raise literacy

By Creative Salon

19 May 2021

Cadbury is addressing low levels of literacy in South Africa with a new campaign that shines a light on the power of human generosity.

Created by VCCP London, the TV ad tells a powerful story of Sifiso, his mum and Mrs. Mabena, who all become more closely connected through a small but meaningful act of kindness and generosity.

Mrs. Mabena looks after Sifiso whilst his mother is at work, insisting he learns English during their time together. We see a tense but familiar domestic scene of homeschooling, with Sifiso doing what he can to resist her strict instructions. When Sifiso sees his mother try to pay Mrs. Mabena and she refuses, he realises Mrs Mabena isn’t strict - she’s trying to help him and his mother. He decides to reward one act of generosity with another - slipping his own bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk into her bag. The film ends with her finding the chocolate and smiling, closing out with, ‘there’s a glass and a half in everyone’.

The TVC will run alongside a consumer driven activation, created by partner agency Ogilvy South Africa. Driven by the stark fact that only 2% of books published in South Africa are in African languages, the activation will invite South Africans to help address the problem one word at a time, by translating words into their own language. Using human generosity to help tackle the issue, Cadbury has partnered with Nal’ibali and a range of South African authors to use these words to create children’s story books in African languages.

Langa Khanyile, Chocolate Equity Lead, Sub Saharan Africa: said “Cadbury has always been a brand that aims to bring people closer together, we are founded in the spirit of generosity and pioneering social impact. This work forms part of a journey that calls on all South Africans to help tackle the pertinent social tension of illiteracy and help re-write the narratives of our people, in our own words, one word at a time. We are delighted to launch the first TV activity linked to this social mission, Mrs Mabena.”

Chris Birch, Executive Creative Director at VCCP, added: "We've all known a Mrs Mabena. Especially when we were kids. Seemingly stern on the outside, yet an absolute generous gem on the inside. We are extremely proud of this work and the goal to improve literacy in South Africa."

The VCCP London team worked with local South African acting talent, upcoming director Zee Ntuli, and Production company Darling Films. It was filmed on location in Johannesburg. Media planning and execution was delivered by Starcom.

CREDITS

CAMPAIGN TITLE: Mrs Mabena

CLIENT: Mondelez

BRAND: Cadbury

ADVERTISING AGENCY: VCCP

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Chris Birch & Jonny Parker

ART DIRECTOR: Myles Vincent

COPYWRITER: James Rafter

GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR: David Boscawen

BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Frankie Hall

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Anna Fotheringham

ACCOUNT MANAGER: Annisha Shah