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Not Just a Sweet Tooth: How Chocolate Advertising Appeals to the Masses

Charlotte A. Brooks

Carthage College
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Abstract

This paper explores how advertising in chocolate capitalizes on sexual themes using three key

themes. One theme comes from equating chocolate to luxury, and allowing chocolate branding

and marketing to play into the different class structures, such as between men and women, or

parents and children. Chocolate advertisements typically use beautiful women in their

advertisements for their product, so that women create a mental association between femininity

and chocolate consumption. Hand-in-hand with the other two ideas is the third theme, where

chocolate is presented as a substitute for sex in advertisements. This paper explores specific

examples of how all three of these themes have become widespread in chocolate marketing.
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Not Just a Sweet Tooth: How Chocolate Advertising Appeals to the Masses

In Western culture there is a common phrase that says You cant buy happiness, but you

can buy chocolate, and thats kind of the same thing. The common craving for chocolate may

stem from more than just the taste. In fact, it may come from cravings for higher class or sexual

desires. Chocolate is hypersexualized in advertising through association with luxury, catering to

health-conscious females in the market, and being presented as a substitute for sex.

The original appeal that chocolate used in advertising was an affiliation with luxury. This

idea stems from the early European perception of chocolate as a luxury item to be eaten

sparingly (Early European Chocolate Customs, 2017). One way that chocolate companies have

continued this concept is through the idea of Fair Trade. It flatters the buyers and makes them

feel elite through their support of less fortunate individuals (Fahim, 2010). Every fair trade

chocolate makes sure that the consumer knows that they are supporting the less fortunate through

obvious labeling on all fair trade products. Even when the chocolate is not fair trade, packaging

is key. For example, the Godiva packaging is specifically designed to evoke the ahhhhh factor

through attractive displays and packaging (Fahim, 2010). Chocolate box designs, in general,

represent luxury items for gift giving, using existing symbols for love and sensuality (Fahim,

2010). Gift giving in general is a sign of affluence, and chocolate marketers take this idea and

run with it.

Chocolate is typically given from the more powerful to the less powerful, whether it be

from men to women or from adults to children (Fahim, 2010). Each season, chocolate brands

recognize the importance of the power difference between gift givers and recipients, and

embrace it in their marketing. Around Valentines day, for example, many chocolate brands make

their packaging heart shaped, pink, or covered in loving messages. This branding is aimed at men
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searching for the ideal gift for their woman. Since men are viewed as the more powerful one in

the relationship in society, they are more likely to be the breadwinner and the provider of all

gifts, so chocolate marketing encourages this traditional dynamic. Another example of

chocolatiers targeting more powerful buyers looking for gifts for less powerful recipients falls

around Easter, when parents and adults shop for chocolate for children. Childlike colors and

designs overwhelm chocolate brands packaging, with the intent of appealing to a parents

perception of what a child would like. Even when the packaging doesnt have the typical

seasonal or gold look to it, chocolate branding is consistently aimed at the higher class. In fact,

these customs are so commonplace that chocolate has gained an association with love, and

consistently evokes a positive emotional response in its recipients (Fahim, 2010).

However, not all chocolate is purchased as a gift between classes. Women are a primary

consumer of chocolate for their own consumption. Women, though, often view chocolate as

unhealthy, or not part of a balanced diet; It becomes the advertising departments function to

overcome this mental obstacle. Cosmopolitan, a magazine known for sex advice, features an ad

for a chocolate Jell-O because every diet needs a little wiggle room (Fahim, 2010). The

advertisements themselves recognize the need to change peoples minds about a negative impact

of chocolate on their health. Often times, the inside of chocolate wrappers contain messages

encouraging consumers to treat themselves (Early European Chocolate Customs, 2017). It

recognizes the superfluity of consuming chocolate but encourages it regardless because it creates

joy and happiness (Early European Chocolate Customs, 2017). Sometimes, however, the

advertisements are less direct than simply telling consumers to eat their chocolate. One way that

marketers subversively attain this goal is through showing female models depicted either

wearing chocolate or transforming to or from chocolate. The use of models sustains the desire for
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the ideal female body, but also fortifies the association of chocolate with love and comfort that

one could attain from such a woman (Fahim, 2010).

In fact, the use of beautiful women in chocolate ads is increasingly common. In his

research, Fahim suggests that commercials depicting a beautiful woman eating chocolate and

enjoying it leads female viewers to view their own appetites for chocolate as a normal expression

of their femininity (Fahim, 2010). He argues that the the advertisements help construct the

perspective of a female viewer, allowing her to frame chocolate cravings simply as a craving for

femininity (Fahim, 2010). Essentially, he argues, advertisements of this nature have led to

women feeling enabled to reframe their desire for a possibly unhealthy snack into a desire for

increased femininity, thus equipping them with an ability to overcome natural self-restraint

(Fahim, 2010). Even chocolate advertisements that do not feature a beautiful woman still feed

into the idea of women deserving to treat themselves. For example, popular UK Chocolate bar

Yorkie runs their entire campaign based on the slogan not for girls. Although they are not

designed to encourage sexuality, they still feed into the idea that men are hungry, women

deserve a treat (Yorkie, 2015).

While beautiful women are depicted to make chocolate consumers feel beautiful when

they, too, consume the product, the desire for chocolate stems from temptation. Temptation is

naturally affiliated with sexuality, and chocolate marketers use this to their advantage; They

affiliate chocolates allure with a sexual one (Yorkie, 2015). However, when a woman gives in

to a chocolate temptation it will not result in her vilification as it would with sex, so chocolate is

portrayed as an acceptable outlet for gratification (Yorkie, 2015). A case study on chocolate

advertising argues that chocolate is often portrayed as a substitute for sex or sold to women

through seduction (Chocolate Case Study, 2015). When advertisements use the substitution for
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sex method to sell chocolate, they often depict a woman holding a bar to her mouth, or lying in

bed euphorically eating her chocolate with her eyes closed (Chocolate Case Study, 2015).

Interestingly, the women always seem completely satisfied with the lack of a male presence and

seem to appease all of their urges merely through the consumption of chocolate (Fahim, 2010).

In fact, one advertisement for Ghirardelli goes so far as to give directions to women on how to

eat their chocolate for maximum pleasure (Fahim, 2010). In addition to this, a Dove commercial

titled Senses opens with an image of a model caressing herself while a piece of chocolate

appears in front of her, further affiliating chocolate with sexual imagery (Fahim, 2010).

In fact, it seems these ideals toward chocolate have been tied into society long before

advertisers made it that way. The Aztecs were the first to associate chocolate with sex, when they

would eat it off of each others skin during sex. It was considered a holy fetish and incorporated

as the gods elixir during their grand ceremonies (Fahim, 2010). Early Western Europeans held a

widespread belief that chocolate was an aphrodisiac, this rumor stuck around and perpetuated

itself into the mainstream societal ideals of romance and sex. Valentines day and anniversaries

are celebrated with chocolate, increasing the idea that chocolate is sexually stimulating (Early

European Chocolate Customs, 2017). Another example comes from an Aero commercial, where

the narrator speaks about chocolate in entirely chocolate double entendres, ending by saying

And that, ladies, makes the pleasure even more intense (Early European Chocolate Customs,

2017). Godiva, not just in their commercials, ties sex in to every aspect of their branding, and

claims that the thrill of opening one of their gold boxes and sampling one of their products is

not too far from sex (Fahim, 2010).

Clearly, chocolate commercials frequently idolize class differences, beauty, and sex, but it

would be false to claim that these themes apply to all chocolate branding and commercials. The
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aforementioned Yorkie brand campaign was definitely created with the intent to stand out from

the rest of the chocolate industrys branding for women, as is written directly on their its not for

girls labels. Kit Kat has an entire campaign built around taking a break, and enjoying a Kit Kat

while you do so. Although they occasionally sexualize the experience of eating the Kit Kat itself,

there are people of all class levels and appearances enjoying their break and enjoying their Kit

Kat. Another famous chocolate campaign that could argue against the thematic chocolate

advertisements is the Snickers youre not you when youre hungry campaign. This is one of

the only mainstream chocolate advertising campaigns that seems to avoid the three key themes in

their marketing. The campaign focuses on what you become other than yourself when you are

hungry, and suggests eating a Snickers bar to recover and get back to yourself. Occasionally, the

not you traits could be classified as lower class, ugly, or slightly sexual, but, as a whole, the

traits are just laughable and the advertisements manage to avoid the traditional themes in

chocolate advertising.

You cannot buy happiness, but you can buy chocolate. As a society, the joke is that the two

go hand in hand. It is possible, however, that societys affiliation between chocolate and

happiness does not come from personal experiences, rather from chocolate marketers themselves

creating these associations in our brains. Chocolate is hypersexualized through its affiliation with

class differences with Fair Trade flattery and branding aimed at powerful buyers. The

advertisements cater to health-conscious females by using beautiful models to eat the chocolate,

so that women who consume the product can feel graceful as well. Lastly, the retailers of

chocolate often place it in the commercials as a substitute for sex. With a few exceptional

campaigns, such as Kit Kat and Snickers, all three of these themes show up frequently in
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chocolate marketing campaigns. When society equates chocolate to happiness it calls in to

question if it is because of the feelings it provides or the ads that tell society to feel that way.
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References

Chocolate Case Study [Web log post]. (2015, December 05). Retrieved April 30, 2017, from

http://blogs.evergreen.edu/terroir-chocolate11/204-2/

Early European Chocolate Customs [Web log post]. (2017, March 10). Retrieved April 30, 2017,

from https://chocolateclass.wordpress.com

Fahim, J. (2010). Beyond Cravings: Gender and Class Desires in Chocolate marketing. Retrieved

April 30, 2017, from http://scholar.oxy.edu/sociology_student/3

Yorkie Women cant open jars [Web log post]. (2015, April 10). Retrieved April 29, 2017,

from https://chocolateclass.wordpress.com