Cadbury 5 Star’s Bold ‘Uncle Campaign’ Aims to ‘Destroy’ Valentine’s Day Trends

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Cadbury 5 Star’s Bold 'Uncle Campaign' Aims to ‘Destroy’ Valentine's Day Trends

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Cadbury 5 Star has taken a unique approach to Valentine’s Week marketing this year, allocating its entire budget to the quirky ‘uncle campaign’. As part of this initiative, the company is incentivizing older couples to rekindle romance by offering them monetary rewards to go on dates and share their heartwarming Valentine’s Day experiences on social media. The campaign has already gained significant traction, going viral across various social media platforms.

Conceived by Ogilvy, the campaign is rooted in the humorous observation that trends often lose their allure once they’re adopted by older generations. 

Cadbury 5 Star’s Unconventional Valentine’s Day Campaign brings uncles’ to ‘destroy V-Day’

In Cadbury 5 Star’s latest video advertisement, a man purportedly with the screen name KV Shanmugam, a data scientist humorously explains a peculiar phenomenon. He can be seen saying, “My team has analyzed hundreds of trends and discovered something mind-blowing; that every Fad ends the same way- “With Uncles”. When uncles join a trend, the youth interestingly lose interest in it. But it hasn’t happened on Valentine’s Day.”

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In response to this, Karthik Srinivasan, a communications strategy consultant, took to LinkedIn to share his thoughts on the campaign, noting that Cadbury 5 Star has boldly deviated from its traditional approach with this innovative initiative.

Karthik Srinivasan stated, “Cadbury’s 5 Star’s 2025 Valentine’s Day campaign changes route, unlike previous years. Instead of merely helping only those who are uninterested and want to stay away (and do nothing), the campaign wants to make Valentine’s Day itself into a non-event that all people would lose interest in. That is, this year’s campaign wants to purge the event for all so that not just those who want to avoid it can avoid it, but also those who want to celebrate it… should not.

And in declaring the objective of ‘Destroy Valentine’s Day’, Cadbury’s 5 Star (agency: Ogilvy) is starting to sound like Bajrang Dal! After you watch the ad, consider reading about how 5 Star started with the famous ‘Ramesh Suresh’ series, used one element of that campaign for the ‘Do nothing’ series, and has finally landed into Bajrang Dal zone!”

The campaign has sparked a flurry of reactions on social media, with people weighing in from all corners. While some have hailed it as a clever marketing move, others have expressed confusion and criticism, labeling it a ‘bizarrely aggressive anti-Valentine’s Day ad’

Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy India — the agency behind the 5 Star advertisement — commented on the “recruitment of uncles,” stating that the initiative was part of “5 Star’s counterculture approach to the cringe surrounding Valentine’s Day.” He added that it was a “no-brainer” decision.

“Our Creative Tech team helped build the platform to interview and recruit ‘uncles’ who can take this mission (destroying Valentine’s Day) forward while rewarding the youth so that everyone who is tired of the mush around V-Day can actively contribute to pruning it,” Nayak said.

Calling All Uncles: Join the Mission to ‘Destroy Valentine’s Day’!”

Visit the official Cadbury 5 Star Destroy Valentine’s Day website and click on ‘Recruit an Uncle’ to fill out the registration form. You can sign up yourself or be nominated by a friend or family member. As a registered “uncle”, you’ll receive a special “date allowance” from Cadbury 5 Star. Plus, the person who nominates you will earn a “commission” as a thank you for joining the mission!”

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