Did you know a drumming gorilla saved Cadbury from a massive crisis?

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]In 2007, Cadbury was in the middle of a salmonella contamination crisis that had affected nearly 40 products and damaged the trust of their brand significantly.

[00:00:09]Their agency came in and pitched a 90-second film of a gorilla sitting behind a drum kit waiting and then [music] playing the climax of Phil Collins in the air tonight. The CEO obviously hated it, but they ran it anyways partially because nothing else worked. The ad aired during the final of Big Brother in the UK to an audience of millions. Chocolate sales went up 90% in the month following the campaign. Phil Collins reported a surge in downloads of the song that had been out for 26 years.

[00:00:37]Gorilla did was remind people how Cadbury chocolate made them feel without ever mentioning it. Gorilla playing drums with complete joy and the implicit suggestion that this was somehow connected to chocolate and people's brains made the leap because they wanted to.

[00:00:52]The ad's studied in marketing programs now as a masterclass in emotional brand recovery.