The sweet side: Gewista campaign for product launch in Austria
The Dutch chocolate manufacturer has a clear mission, which is to put an end to child labor and modern slavery in cocoa farming. With eye-catching message displays at Gewista locations, Tony's Chocolonely draws attention to this child labor message as well as to its fancy chocolate varieties. On MEGAfacades, posters, streetcars and City Lights, the campaign immediately catches the eye and makes Austrians think.
"With a convincing product, a clear message and a social mission, our new client, Tony's Chocolonely, was already able to dominate the domestic market in the Netherlands. Now we are staging the brand for its Austrian launch at top locations, ensuring maximum awareness as well as rapid brand recognition here in Austria," says Andrea Groh, Chief Sales Officer of Gewista, about the outdoor advertising campaign.
Nikolaus Huemer, Managing Director DACH at Tony's Chocolonely, said about the new campaign, "We have an important message to be considered. Which chocolate you eat has much more to do with fairness or unfairness than you might think. You can make the world a little bit better with every bar of chocolate -- or not. At Tony's, we want people to have the opportunity to make a socially conscious choice for more justice in the world when they choose their chocolate. And, to create awareness of this issue on a larger scale, we're now doing outdoor advertising with Gewista for the first time."
The bitter "shadow side" of the chocolate industry
The purchase of raw materials, especially cocoa, for chocolate production is extremely problematic in many places. Many large producers are still making profits at the expense of West African small-farm-owning families. According to a 2018 study, for example, at least 30,000 people in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire are victims of modern slavery in the cocoa industry (Global Slavery Index, p. 49). Child labor is also a major problem in these two countries, where about 1.5 million children work in the cocoa industry under illegal and sometimes inhumane conditions, because their parents do not otherwise earn enough money for the family’s daily living expenses (NORC report, 2020).
About Tony's Chocolonely
Tony's Chocolonely is based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 2005 by TV journalist Teun van de Keuken after he became aware of the conditions in West African cocoa farming. Tony's Chocolonely is the chocolate market leader in its native Netherlands, ahead of big players such as Nestlé, Mars and Mondelez.
As a social-impact company, Tony's Chocolonely not only draws attention to abuses, but also proves that things can really be done differently. Tony’s Chocolonely takes active steps to help ensure that untenable conditions will finally change. To this end, Tony's Chocolonely has launched various programs, implements them consistently and transparently, and also shares its expertise in fairer cocoa sourcing in "Tony's Open Chain," with all chocolate producers who are seriously interested in social justice in cocoa farming.
