Cadbury ‘Birthday’ tells a single story of generosity but played out over 200 years of British History. The film was crafted to show the subtle shift through the decades whilst ensuring the heartfelt story of generosity was kept intact.

Cadbury is a British national treasure. It’s the biggest chocolate maker in Britain and has been loved for generations. It was founded in 1824 with the opening of a store on Bull Street in Birmingham. Run on the belief that, ‘nothing is too good for the public’, it is this emphasis on generosity that continues to make Cadbury the beloved brand that it is today.

Cadbury ‘Birthday’ shows a single act of generosity played out seamlessly over the 200 years. A young girl ventures into a local shop by herself for the first time to surprise her Mum with a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk. The shopkeeper, noticing that the girl is attempting to pay with her own favourite toys, kindly plays along, giving the girl the chocolate bar. The ad shows how even though much has changed over the 200 year history of Cadbury, the generous spirit in people has remained the same.

To communicate the 200th anniversary of Cadbury was no mean feat. Rooted in British culture for generations. But how could we demonstrate our relationship with the public and our brand value that got us to this bicentennial anniversary? Through the retelling of a story known and loved by the nation. The universally understood relationship between child and mother, showing ‘generous instinct’ has always been there. The founding value of Cadbury 200 years ago.

Cadbury ‘Birthday’ tells a timeless story of generosity, starting in 1824 and subtly progressing through time to modern day. As a recreation of a classic Cadbury advert from 2018, the production faced the huge challenge that the young actress was now six years older and looked completely different. This meant complex head replacements were needed on all shots to retain our original actresses' performance. Body doubles and a mixture of VFX techniques had to be used, with head tracking and light rendering crafted in 3D. All this had to be achieved whilst seamlessly shifting in time over the Cadbury brand's 200 year history. Every single element of the production needed to be carefully crafted to ensure we kept the heartfelt story of generosity intact.