Cadbury revives 'Mum's Birthday' ad to celebrate 200th anniversary

Cadbury and its global agency of record VCCP London have unveiled a fully integrated campaign celebrating Cadbury’s 200th anniversary and its long-standing relationship with the British public.

Since being founded in Birmingham on 4 March 1824, Cadbury has grown to become part of the fabric of the nation, present in the lives of British people in moments big and small. The new campaign 'Yours for 200 Years' was developed to celebrate being part of British life for generations, rather than to just mark a milestone.

'Yours for 200 Years' focuses on the sense of belonging to the nation through both the shared value of generosity, upon which Cadbury was founded, and in products which have become part of British life and culture. Cadbury has long spoken to the generous spirit in all of us. For Cadbury’s anniversary year, the campaign film ‘Birthday’ revives the much-loved ‘Mum’s Birthday’ TVC to demonstrate that there has always been A Glass and a Half in Everyone.

The 60-second film takes viewers through 200 years of British life, beginning in 1824 and travelling through time as the story of a little girl buying her mum a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk for her birthday is retold. The setting changes subtly around the girl and shopkeeper as time advances, technology and fashions change but, powerfully, the story remains the same.

VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear worked with award-winning director Frederic Planchon, who directed the original ‘Mum’s Birthday’ TVC, and Academy Films. Most of the original cast were reunited for the new film, with body doubles and post-production techniques used to recreate the scene between the shopkeeper and the girl (who is now five years older than when the first ad was released), post production was managed by Selected Works. The end result is an emotional reboot of a classic advert which celebrates small, shared moments of generosity.

To acknowledge that Cadbury’s enduring success is due to the nation’s continued support and love, the British public are the heroes of ‘Your Cadbury Photos’ across OOH and social. A competition selected pictures submitted from old family albums where people were seen enjoying Cadbury products, from Easter egg hunts, Christmas, and the Flake 99 ice cream on summer holidays. These images feature across billboards and campaign assets to celebrate the role Cadbury has held in British people’s lives and memories.

Further boosting the nostalgia generated by the campaign, a limited-edition range of seven Cadbury Dairy Milk bars is being released featuring classic designs, crafted in collaboration with Bulletproof (Cadbury’s branding agency). First introduced in 1905, Cadbury Dairy Milk is a favourite amongst the public who recognise its iconic packaging designs from their past. Cadbury are also working in partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland, acknowledging the link between nostalgic packaging designs and memory.

A range of bespoke nostalgic OOH ads has also been designed by illustrators to celebrate Cadbury Dairy Milk’s famous branding and iconic design evoking the artwork of bygone campaigns. Each execution is illustrated in the style of a different era and packaging, creating a beautiful suite of retro posters.

Elise Burditt, Senior Marketing Director at Cadbury, said: “This is a very special moment for us. It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to celebrate a 200th anniversary! But for us this is so much more than that - it’s celebrating 200 years of being part of the lives of the British public and recognising that we wouldn’t be here today without them. We want to demonstrate that the values upon which Cadbury was founded in Birmingham 200 years ago still ring true today with people, and with a generous spirit at the heart of everything we do.”

Chris Birch and Jonny Parker, Executive Creative Directors at VCCP London, added: “Crikey. 200 years old. That only happens when you have the relationship with the British public that Cadbury has. This work celebrates every Christmas morning Selection Box, every school trouser pocket Curly Wurly, every drippy Flake 99, every Dairy Milk on the sofa and everyone in Britain who’s gleefully munched them down since 1824. Happy Birthday Cadbury.”

The campaign will run throughout the UK across AV, D/OOH, audio, social, print and digital from today and will be supported by owned-channel activity by Elvis and a PR campaign by Ogilvy.

Media planning and execution for the campaign is handled by Publicis Media.

Credits

CAMPAIGN TITLE: Yours for 200 Years

CLIENT: Cadbury

ADVERTISING AGENCY: VCCP

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jonny Parker & Chris Birch

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Angus Vine

SENIOR CREATIVE TEAM: Ben Evans & Adam Sears

GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR: David Boscawen

MANAGING PARTNER: Matt Smith

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Tom Carr

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Bella Johnston

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Fiona Hanna

ACCOUNT MANAGER: Maddie Jones

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Ellie Rhodes

PLANNING DIRECTOR: Ollie Gilmore

SENIOR PLANNER: Alana King & Charlotte O’Brien

CONTENT CREATION STUDIO: Girl&Bear

SENIOR INTEGRATED PRODUCERS: David Vass & Gaynor Goldring

INTEGRATED PRODUCER: Connor Kilkelly

SENIOR TV PRODUCER: Carly Parris

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Maddy Holmes

HEAD OF BROADCAST AFFAIRS: Alexia Collins

HEAD OF ART: Ali Augur

ILLUSTRATORS: Archie Proudfoot & Carol Lawson (CIA), Chris Wormel (The Artworks), Bruce Emmett (Flio), Vince McIndoe (DebutArt)

DESIGN DIRECTOR: Adam Edwards

DESIGNERS: Tegan Barnes & Carl Sherry

ARTWORKERS: Nilesh Parmar & Lee Forster

JUNIOR RESOURCE MANAGER: Yasmine Moridi

STUDIO MANAGER: James Perry

ASSISTANT STUDIO MANAGER: Sam Weight

POST PRODUCER: Gerda Aleksandraviciute

SOCIAL EDITOR: Gareth Jivan Philips

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Academy Films

DIRECTOR: Frederic Planchon

DOP: Jakob Ihre

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Sophie Becher

EXEC PRODUCER: Medb Riordan

PRODUCER: Jacob Hyam

AUDIO COMPANY: King Lear Music & Sound

SOUND ENGINEER: Jack Sedgwick

COLOURIST: Jean-Clément Soret - Company 3, London

COLOUR EP: Ellora Soret

COLOUR ASSISTS: Santino Napolitano, Jack Kennedy & Karl Pasamonte

POST PRODUCTION COMPANY: Selected Works

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Greg Spencer

ART DIRECTOR: Amber Frisenda

VFX SUPERVISORS: Greg Spencer, Amber Frisenda, Dave Hempstead

2D ARTISTS: Rich Roberts, Gary Driver, Mahesh Chandrasekaran, Theajo Dharan, Georgie Ford & Valeria Scalamandre

DMP ARTISTS: Lyndall Spagnoletti, Kirsty Cutler & Chris Wilson

ONLINE ARTISTS: Eileen Chan, Nick Sze & Dave Wishart

EXECUTIVE POST PRODUCER: Alex Fitzgerald

POST PRODUCER: Libby Gandhi

STILLS POST PRODUCTION: Stanley’s Post

MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: Publicis

MEDIA PLANNER: Lynne Quinn, Lauren Nolan & George Pearcy