Cadbury 5 Star has built a real-life 'V-Day Evacuation Zone' in Bandra, Mumbai

A bite-sized chat with Ogilvy chief creative officer Sukesh Nayak on the campaign.

If renting out an island and christening it My Cousin’s Wedding so that one can have a ready answer for what they’re doing on Valentine’s Day (I am at my cousin’s wedding) was extreme, one has underestimated Cadbury 5 Star.

The Mondelez chocolate bar this time has turned to artificial intelligence to help singles steer clear of areas where couples descend on the day of love. A mush detector shows heat signatures on smartphones. Red means an excess of mush couples and a sign for single folks to stay away.

To stress its disagreement to the day of love, the brand has built a V-Day Evacuation Zone in Mumbai's Bandra region. Folks are required to decontaminate themselves from any "residual mush" before entering the premises.

“We know the brand philosophy of Do Nothing and so based on it, we asked ourselves how will we do valentine's day... what will be our brand thought? And hence we came up with this approach,” states Sukesh Nayak, chief creative officer, Ogilvy.

If that was not enough, Cadbury 5 Star teamed up with brands like Keventers, Smaash, and Frozen Bottle to create mush-free zones on Valentine’s Day.

When asked if the brands weren’t afraid of losing business on that day, Nayak was clear that “there's an audience for 5 Star and what it stands for… That's how we work, it's not about losing the audience. I must give my consumer a truly transitional Do Nothing experience.”

When asked how the same team which works on Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk and 5 Star manage to strike the right balance. Says the CCO, “Some brands stand for love. Some brands stand for do nothing. That's the beauty of a brave account and a brave client. Kudos to Mondelez...”