Festive chocolate favorites Celebrations almost had a completely different vibe with an alternative name.
The emergence of iconic chocolate boxes, including Roses and Quality Street, as Christmas staples is explored in a new Channel 4 documentary.
The Secret World Of… Christmas Chocolate, narrated by comedian Jo Brand, looks at how candy brands battle it out in the so-called ‘Chocolate Wars’ to become the country’s favorite candy.
Among those speaking to the creators of the one-time special is Michelle Frost, the general manager of Mars, and behind the iconic box, which can be found in stockings everywhere, Celebrations.
The confectionery, tasked with boosting the American brand’s popularity in the UK, explains that it found the 1990s market “boring” and “traditional” and desperate for a refresh.
On how she came up with the idea of Celebrations, she says, “I usually get my best ideas in the bath. And there’s always a joke at work: “Oh God, Michelle took a bath again. Watch out, everyone.”
“Anyway, I was sitting in the bath and thinking about this conundrum, ‘What can I do that’s different?’ And then it hit me. I know what to do. We must use the chocolates that everyone loves.’
Once they chose to make miniature versions of well-known chocolates, including Twix, Maltesers and the controversial Bounty, Michelle then needed a suitable name.
She explains, “And then I had to think about, oh god, what are we going to call this thing?”
“There were two names that caught my eye; one was Celebrations and one was Jamboree.
“So Celebrations could have been called Jamboree, which is an equally beautiful name, I think. But Celebrations just summed up the occasion for which we wanted people to use this product.”
What name would you have chosen if you were in Michelle’s shoes?
That’s the controversy surrounding the inclusion of Bounty’s, this year shoppers can get special’No Bounty’ Celebrations boxes in a lawsuit.
It comes after a survey found that 39% of Britons would support a scrapping of Celebrations coconut bars.
The poll of 2,000 people found that 18% would feel annoyed if they opened a Celebrations tub to find there were only Bountys left, and 58% said it would lead to a family fight.
It also turned out that 22% of those surveyed liked Bounty least of all the chocolates in the Celebrations tub, and 28% of us believe coconut has no place in a chocolate bar at all.
The Secret World Of… Christmas Chocolate airs Tuesdays at 9pm on Channel 4.
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