Why Is Cadbury STILL Airing Their Creme Egg Spots 40+ Years On?

The iconic Cadbury Creme Egg hit U.S. TV screens some 40+ years ago in 1983. The spot – featuring a fluffy bunny cluck like a chicken as it touted the future Easter candy tradition — appeared at a time when the Cold War raged, Michael Jackson moonwalked into pop superstardom, Scarface topped the box office and the M*A*S*H finale became the most-watched TV broadcast in U.S. history at the time.

Four decades later consumers are still eating Creme Eggs every Easter, still enamored with the white and yellow oozy albumen and still not sure what the heck it’s made of – a testament to marketing, asset management and brand loyalty…with a touch of nostalgia to boot.

In the early 1990s, Cadbury played off the creative elements of the original spot, adding more cute animals pretending to be chickens, plus, you know, bunny ears. A lion. A cat. A turtle. And of course, the bunny. That is over four decades of creative durability and generational loyalty as the eggs find themselves in new easter baskets. In a world of mega-sour gummies and organic, locally-sourced, artisanal licorice, the Creme Egg endures.

So why is Cadbury still airing these creatives and are they the source of steadfast sales sustainability?

According to the ad ops platform XR Extreme Reach, which manages digital assets and talent and creative rights for the world’s top brands, CMOs and creative directors often turn to their archives to inspire new generations of storytelling. For instance, take Dawn. Yes, the dish detergent. Dawn has revisited its beloved ducklings spot numerous times over the years, while Folgers recently launched a campaign remixing its iconic "The Best Part of Wakin’ Up” jingle with throwback fonts and logos.

Being able to reuse and redeploy iconic creative requires careful management of assets and ownership of talent and artistic rights, according to XR. In addition to safeguarding and digitizing aging film reels, a brand like Cadbury must renew music and talent rights, including the voiceover in its classic "Clucking Bunny" spot, performed by Russell Horton, an actor who clearly knows his rabbits, having also voiced the iconic Trix Rabbit. 

The Creme Egg is an example of the power of timeless creative assets that continue to deliver value through structured artistic renewals and careful rights management over time and, of course, a media strategy that makes seasonal sense.

Though we are still in the full throes of Easter season, according to cross-platform ad measurement company iSpot, “Clucking Bunny” hopped back onto TV screens on Feb. 15 this year, and has already had about 1,100 national airings major broadcast and cable networks, with ad reach led by CBS, ABC and NBC. That’s down significantly from over 7,000 airings in 2017 leading up to the Easter holiday. However, since Feb. 1 it’s also the No. 6 streaming advertisement among ALL candy and gum brands over the entire year – all from a seasonal ad strategy that protects their assets over time.

So…is it a case of chicken and the (pun intended) egg? 

Is it an enduring treat meant to be in every basket because of the brilliance of Cadbury’s R&D or was the product GTM of the Creme Egg whipped into a recipe of creative perfection, rights and asset management and a marketing mix that has helped it endure? Who says the answer is binary? 

Just as important, what is actually IN the eggs? Well, turns out it’s just fondant icing with a little dried egg white included. It tastes much more than the sum of its ingredients. To many consumers, the Creme Egg tastes like a different time. Unique. Classic. Chocolate. Sweet. 

Why change the marketing recipe now?