This year, Cadbury celebrates its 200th Anniversary. The brand is marking the milestone with a new integrated campaign entitled; ‘Yours for 200 Years’.

Building upon the existing ‘There's a Glass and a Half in Everyone' brand platform, the campaign celebrates the spirit of giving, a core value of Cadbury’s since its foundation by George Cadbury in 1824.

The campaign harks back to the well-known ‘Mum’s Birthday ad’, featuring a campaign film that retells the story incorporating the brand's 200-year heritage.

The film opens in 1824, transporting viewers through 200 years of British life. The story of the young girl in this iteration begins in the past, as she steps into the familiar store to bargain with the shopkeeper to purchase her mum a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk for her birthday. As the girl is in the store the setting outside returns to the modern day, yet as time advances and technology changes the story very much remains the same.

The young girl offers up the contents of her pocket to pay for the bar of chocolate, including an array of pennies, buttons and a unicorn toy. The shopkeeper accepts the payment and passes the bar over to the young girl who gives the bar to her mother. The pair embrace, embodying the spirit of kindness and generosity that Cadbury’s aims to represent.

The film was made with the help of VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear who worked with award-winning director Frederic Planchon, the director of the original ‘Mum’s Birthday’. Most of the original cast were reunited for the 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 updated version of the classic campaign evokes a sense of nostalgia in audiences, yet maintains the heritage of the brand which continues to hold a strong place in British culture.

To further showcase Cadbury’s prominent position in culture, the campaign is also made up of an OOH and social element that heroes the British public with ‘Your Cadbury Photos’. The photos show families enjoying Cadbury products and have been submitted by real people. From Easter egg hunts and Birthdays, to summer with a Flake 99 ice cream, the authentic imagery borrows from audiences to show how the brand is a mainstay of British life. The images are set to feature across billboards and campaign assets to celebrate the role Cadbury has held in people’s lives. Media planning and execution for the campaign is handled by Publicis Media.

“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.” says Chris Birch and Jonny Parker, Executive Creative Directors at VCCP London.

Since being founded in Birmingham on 4th March 1824, Cadbury has become a part of the fabric of the nation. The ‘Yours for 200 Years’ campaign has been developed with this notion of celebrating the brand's position in British life for generations in mind, rather than simply celebrating the brand’s Birthday.

“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.” explained Elise Burditt, Senior Marketing Director at Cadbury.

As well as the film and audience photo campaign, a range of bespoke nostalgic OOH ads have been designed by illustrators to celebrate Cadbury Dairy Milk’s famous branding and iconic design including artwork of bygone campaigns. Each execution is illustrated in the style of a different era and packaging, creating a range of retro posters.

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.

‘Yours for 200 Years’ aptly celebrates both Cadbury’s illustrious brand heritage and current position within culture. The re-telling of a story of generosity that remains as relevant today as it did at the brand's inception. While the campaign cleverly makes the most of ready-made brand advocates in the form of the British public who associate the brand with some of their most memorable, fond moments.