Chocolate parodies, a good idea?

How to enter a new market without substantial advertising budgets?

Welcome to the world of guerrilla marketing. One way is to challenge market leaders and that is exactly what Tony Chocolonely did in her “Sweet Solution” campaign. Although legally risky, having a major brand owner react attracts a lot of media attention.

Tony Chocolonely is a well-known chocolate brand in the Netherlands with colorful chocolate bars in various flavors. Their strong brand promise, making the chocolate industry exploitation free, is part of their success. In 2021, the brand launched a campaign aimed to advocate for a living income for cacao farmers. The campaign consisted of chocolate bars with the same look as other major brands like Twix, Milka and Toblerone. The legal risk was apparent, but no claims followed.

Tony is now repeating this campaign in Germany, but here the brand faces a lawsuit: Tony must remove the purple bars from the market after a court ruled that they infringe on the Milka bar. In response, Tony stated that they would have preferred opponent Mondelez to engage in a discussion about the injustices rather than in a courtroom over trademark rights. An answer that apparently was already prepared in their well-thought-out media strategy because plan B is already in motion: the same chocolate bar but in gray with the message: ‘clearly not purple, pay farmers, not lawyers’.

As noble as Tony's goal is to make chocolate exploitation-free and to combat injustices, Tony is free-riding on the fame of another brand. And that leaves a somewhat unpleasant, gray taste.

Author: Arnaud Bos

Bio: Arnaud is trademark attorney and within Knijff responsible for the marketing & communication. Arnaud is specialist in the metaverse and music sectors and his client portfolio includes many upcoming and renowned bands. He keeps a close eye on the latest case law in the EU and will let you know when he sees remarkable applications.