Hershey’s Launches into 5-Star Territory

Hershey’s are no strangers to 5-Star advertising – the confectionery giants have racked up more top scores than any other brand. That’s not all down to the category. While confectionery ads overall do make people happier than any other sector, there’s still plenty of variance between ads and brands. All Hershey’s competitors have the same advantage too – so the pressure to make strong creative is even higher.

That goes extra for when you’re launching a new product. Launch ads are tricky for any brand, even one as big and well-loved as this. You have to show and explain something new without losing your audience emotionally – it’s a difficult balance and too often we see brands get it wrong. Either they play it safe and make an ad which explains to the point of boredom, or (more rarely) they make something which is a terrific brand ad but has no fluency when it comes to the new product.

In this case Hershey’s are introducing a line called Colliders, which blends well-known Hershey’s brands with a creamy sweet pudding to create a single-serve chilled dessert for a treat or snack. It’s a clear concept and the basic creative idea – Hershey’s you can eat with a spoon – works fine.

So what pushes the ad into 5-Star territory? Typically this kind of ad would be made in a very left-brained sort of way – lots of abstract shots of spoons, hands, and close-ups on the product. There’s still some of that style in the Hershey’s commercial, but it’s framed around a much more right-brained idea – an animated character who’s discovering the new Colliders product at the same time the viewer is. That gives the animators a license to show plenty of facial reactions, gives the audience a point of view, and also lets them use their enjoyably funky Chaka Khan soundtrack in delightful animated ways. It’s a touch of imagination that lets this launch ad score in the top box, helping Colliders get off to a strong start on screen, and hopefully on shelf.