Tony’s Chocolonely

Print

We ran an open letter print ad across regional and national press to target new audiences. It featured the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Daily Express, Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Birmingham Mail, and The Chronicle. This extended reach and allowed the brand to connect to consumers past the screen.

Live Experiential

Next stop: taking the ad off screen and onto the streets of London.

We took over King's Cross Station with a mahoosive 16-foot wrestling ring, stealing the crowds queuing for platform 9 and ¾.
This wrestling ring spectacle stopped commuters dead in their tracks and kept them there thanks to many a free sample.

The concept for the event was simple. Tony’s and X-ploitation had already fought it out on TV. But could Tony win again in real life? There was only one way to find out. Casting the same wrestlers from the TV ad, ‘The Final Snackdown’ became an activation that consisted of four live wrestling fights spread across the day. One in the am, two at lunch, and one at home time. With a witty compere on the mic narrating the whole day (poor man needed many a lozenge) and a badass playlist, we created the kind of atmosphere that made missing your train or ‘boring-unnecessary-meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email’ worth it.

Ringside, there was plenty more to get stuck into. There were photo ops with the wrestlers, interactive games, and samplings of limited-edition bars. As we predicted, they vanished pretty much as fast as they appeared. The whole thing had an energy that no digital campaign could replicate: real people, in a real place, genuinely entertained and engaged. It was not only a privilege to oversee the creative from day dot but to participate in the running of the event.

Two things I definitely enjoy making from scratch as a creative. Silly posters and fun lil social films.

Press Coverage

The stunt landed strong national and local press coverage, including a feature in the Daily Star. The combination of a newsworthy idea (wrestling in one of the UK's busiest stations ) and a clear consumer message: ‘Eating Tony’s Chocolonely can help fight exploitation in the cocoa industry’ gave journalists a story worth telling.

Results

The goal was to reach new audiences, build momentum, and inspire more people to
choose chocolate that supports fairer pay across the supply chain. We did just that.

-Achieved 48.5M total reach, supporting overarching brand awareness objectives
-Secured 70+ pieces of coverage across national, regional, trade and social
-Tier 1 national coverage including The Times (12.1M reach)
-Delivered a fully integrated campaign across TV, press, experiential, and social
-14% year-on-year sales increase

It was a bodyslamming win for everyone, demonstrating best practice in creative-led
earned media storytelling designed for amplification, not just attendance or views.