3. Cadbury Gorilla (2007)

A third Ad That Goes Hard

I’ve tied myself in knots trying to write about this ad.

Two full weeks spent, typing and backspacing words about this guy I learnt about at uni.

His name was Antonin Artaud. He was an avant-garde drama theorist, famous for developing the ‘Theatre of Cruelty’ - an intense theatrical experience using lights and violence and horrible noises meant to shock audiences into confronting the realities of life.

Artaud didn’t believe that written or spoken language was powerful enough to convey true meaning or emotion. And that we only use words because we hadn’t yet discovered a better way of communicating.

So I spent hours - like an absolute dickhead - trying to thread the needle between this obscure French guy’s theory and an ad for chocolate.

And, in trying to be clever, I’ve proven his point. Words will never live up to material this powerful.

The ad is a gorilla playing the drums.

There’s nothing more stupid, yet nothing more profound.

It’s a gorilla playing the drums and it just goes so so hard.

Thanks for reading. You can read the previous two Ads That Go Hard posts here. If you like it, subscribe below for a post in your inbox every fortnight.