I’ve heard my whole life the joke that Cadbury – yes, the Easter chocolate company that makes Cadbury Eggs – only ever comes out of hiding during the holiday, so it’s odd to see them pop up sometimes during their campaigns. They have a candy bar called ‘5 Star’ that’s pretty popular in India right now, so they recently took advantage of a TV spot and created an Action on Google that causes the Assistant to rebel against you, effectively telling you that it will not fulfill your requests.
The Action is only available in India at this time, we believe, and we’re not sure if it will make its way to the United States or other parts of the world. To activate it, just say “Okay Google, eat a five star”. The campaign was designed to get people to slow down and “do nothing” – taking a break from their day and the bustle of life to simply eat a Cadbury 5 Star candy bar. Marketing at its finest. A rebellious Google Assistant has caught headlines worldwide though and it’s definitely catchy marketing.
Some of the things that Cadbury’s “Do Nothing Mode” action says are hilarious too. At one point, the individual in the commercial asks Google if the bank is open – to which it replies “People still go to banks? Okay, Boomer.” It’s funny because the new Google Wallet we all recently received began as a full wallet and bank replacement in India years ago, so they’re no strangers to performing most of the banking experience digitally. It was a fitting joke for their economy, even if it could be seen as slightly ageist.
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Slowing down and doing nothing is actually not a bad idea. With the fast-paced world we live in being slowed almost to a halt due to the pandemic, this is a timely message about learning to stop and appreciating the things that matter most, including candy bars – even if it is just marketing to make the Easter bunny millions of dollars.
