Lacta chocolate has always been telling love stories and has become a symbol of love in Greece. Each year, around Valentine's Day, Lacta releases a new campaign, usually in the form of branded entertainment, featuring a boy and a girl, falling in love.

This year, Lacta wanted to introduce two new flavors to complement the classic milk chocolate. A white chocolate bar and a dark chocolate bar, appealing to all different tastes and a broader target group.

As the brand synonymous with love, we thought the introduction of two new flavors, different than the classic Lacta, was an opportunity to talk about diversity in love.

The idea was to make a Valentine's Day photoshoot, unlike anything Greeks had ever seen.

28 homosexual and interracial couples, as well as couples with disabilities, were photographed by a celebrated photographer, holding their favorite Lacta flavor, asking Greeks to "Embrace all flavors of love."

Lacta, the brand synonymous with love, would become the first brand in Greece to embrace diversity. The brand that would ask Greeks to break boundaries and embrace all kinds of love.

Our strategy was to make the first campaign in Greece starring homosexual & interracial couples.

Through a Valentine's Day photo campaign, featuring diverse couples, Lacta would ask Greeks to accept love in any flavor it comes.

Those photos would be posted on Social Media, in contrast to anything done by Lacta before. In that way, we wanted to start a public discussion about acceptance and inclusivity. And hope that if Lacta led the way, things would start to finally change in the country.

At the same time, our goal was for the younger progressive audiences, that Lacta is targeting, to perceive the brand as liberal and forward thinking. A brand that shares their values and beliefs.

We invited 28 real, diverse couples to pose for a Valentine’s Day photoshoot and to talk about what makes their love unique.

On February 5 the campaign launched on Facebook, with a gallery of photos, featuring 6 diverse couples. The post created havoc and received hundreds of hate messages. But soon for every hate message, there was a positive one applauding our move.

On February 6 the campaign went viral. It was reported by mainstream media in Greece and abroad, and became the number 1 trend on Twitter in Greece, inspiring hundreds of memes.

On February 7 the campaign’s main video, featuring the same couples talking about the unique taste of their love, launched on social media.

A few days later, a shorter version of this video aired also on TV and on February 14 a second gallery of photos with diverse couples launched on Facebook.

The campaign became the main discussion topic in Greece for many days, sparking a discussion about homosexual couples and their right to be represented in Greek media. As a result of the campaign, the progressive part of the Greek society spoke up for the first time, showing its support to gay couples’ rights.

The campaign’s success in numbers:

- Lacta became the #1 trending topic for 3 days on Twitter, with a sea of memes carrying our message flooding in, involving politicians, celebrities and political cartoons.

- The posts on Facebook had an unparalleled engagement rate of 35%.

- 85% of the reactions on Facebook were likes & love. Only 15% was hate.

- Mainstream media in Greece and abroad reported the campaign for free, resulting to €808.000 of earned media.

- Despite threats for a boycott, Lacta’s sales increased by 13,5%!