Firetree chocolate sweetens US launch with tongue-in-cheek ‘no bitterness’ ad campaign for first issue of Spectator USA magazine

Ads, Business, Creativity

Global communications agency Leagas Delaney unveiled its first ad creative for Firetree Chocolate, made exclusively for the launch issue of Spectator USA.

The Spectator, published weekly from London since 1828, launched its first print edition in the USA on September 28th, supplied to all 535 members of Congress. The launch issue will also be shared with a chosen number of CEOs and senior business people.

Firetree is made with rare, single-estate cocoa sourced from remote volcanic islands. Drawing on the chocolate’s naturally less bitter taste, the light-hearted creative calls for an end to bitterness in US politics with the line “No bitterness. Isn’t the time right in America for this new chocolate?”. Media placement in the Spectator USA was secured by Mercury Communications.

The Spectator (UK) celebrated its highest set of sales results in its 189-year history in 2017 and is the fastest growing magazine in Europe. It launched Spectator USA in Spring 2018. Its first print run including the Firetree creative will be approximately 5000 copies, initially available at selected outlets in Washington DC and New York City.

Leagas Delaney has worked collaboratively with the founders of Firetree to develop every element of the brand from inception to its launch in the UK earlier this year. They are also an investor and current shareholder in the business.

David Zulman, Managing Director at Firetree said:

The cacao beans used to make our chocolate are grown in a group of volcanic islands in the Pacific, called “the ring of fire” – also an apt term for the Capitol Building these days. We’re grateful to Leagas Delaney and Mercury Communications for creating this opportunity to craft a fun, memorable, standout launch ad and appear within a publication as world class as The Spectator.

Leagas Delaney is one of the world’s best-known independent creative communication agencies, with offices in London, Shanghai, Hamburg, Milan and Los Angeles. Fiercely independent, since its foundation in 1980 Leagas Delaney has always taken a strategy-led approach to its work, rooted in the belief that “it’s not an idea unless it changes business”. With its ruthless focus on business growth, its team of curious, considered and creative talent have a proven track-record developing ideas that change business for clients such as Patek Philippe, Penfolds, Adidas, Timberland, Peroni, BASF & Investec.

Firetree is headquartered in Stamford Lincolnshire with the factory based in Peterborough. The Firetree single-estate islands are Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Madagascar. Firetree has proven product excellence having recently received six Academy of Chocolate Awards, and three Great Taste Awards.