This bonkers Flake advert was banned by Cadbury. You can see why
Jonathan Glazer, the director behind Sexy Beast, Under The Skin and those amazing Guinness ads, once made a commercial for Cadbury’s Flake.
It was totally hatstand.
Flake news? Apparently not.
that can’t be real. Surely!?
— Jon McKellan (@jon_NoCode) November 28, 2017
According to someone I know that used to work at Film4 with Glazer it is! Can’t claim to know the details or verify them myself; if anyone knows please feel free to correct me and I’ll update!
— Ben Andac (@TheSakeDiary) November 28, 2017
Advertising journalist here. 100% real, I assure you.
— Jason Stone (@JasonAtDavid) November 28, 2017
Not surprisingly Cadbury decided not to air it. Would love to have seen their faces when they were shown it for the first time.
You can read all about it here.
The spot, created by Saatchis and directed by Jonathan Glazer, features a lascivious devil character throwing Flakes at virginal women who gorge on the chocolate in a sexually suggestive manner.
The bare-chested devil has long, curly black hair in the manner of King Charles II, tight leather trousers and stiletto boots. His performance borders on the risible.
The ad was canned by Flake in March soon after the Kraft takeover, but resurfaced after Glazer submitted it to Academy Films. The ad appeared on the Academy website and, though subsequently deleted, it was appropriated by a visitor to the site and circulated.
The spot, which was filmed in Italy, shows the young women jumping up and down excitedly at the bottom of steps on the grounds of a gothic pile. The endline is: “Succumb to the crumb.”
Cadbury spiked the ad after research revealed a polarising reception was in store. It subsequently moved the business to sister shop Fallon.
This is the Flake ad they went for instead. Still a bit weird, to be honest.
Bah! Bring back the Dancing Devil!
— Joe O’Shea (@josefoshea) November 28, 2017
This Jonathan Glazer ad was rather more successful.
