2022 Winners & Shortlists

Background

The internet. The cruelest playground in the world. Where trolls bully perfect strangers. And, the victims of their hate messaging and body shaming are left to suffer Low self-esteem, severe depression, eating disorders, lower academic scores, long-term psychological ailments, inflict self-harm or sadly even take their own lives. Brief: Karim Bourgi, a Master Chocolatier and influencer Chef, is no stranger to trolls and their comments/abuse. He asked if we could make the internet a ‘sweeter’ place for him and thousands of other victims. A brave strategy and quite frankly ballsy thing to do. Objectives: As per the above and to help raise our client's social profile, reach and fame. Budget: Project cost: $7,623 · Thermoform plastic moulds x 3: $5950 · Packaging printing x 1000 units: $1578 · Caraibe Chocolate x 90 kgs: $95 Project scale: To date, we’ve dispatched 70 Chocapologies, which have been seen by millions.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

To sugarcoat means to glaze or coat chocolate with something sweet. But it’s also a typical phrase used to explain or say something in a manner that is easier to accept, understand or cope with. Our idea, put simply, is this - What if the Internet could be sugarcoated, or rather all the hateful comments that trolls write? @alltrolls, come on, at least #SugarcoatIt. Plus, chocolates are scientifically proven to boosts the production of feel-good chemicals called endorphins. And they help in reducing symptoms of depression.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

We created Chocapologies using Crystal Clear Rigid PVC, and Food Grade specialized thermoform plastic moulds. The idea pushed the limits of food mould-making to a level of precision and detail that even the best food mould-makers in the world said wasn’t going to be possible. Thankfully though, it was, and our client, who’d asked us to make the Internet a better, well ‘sweeter’ place, finally got to have the last word with his trolls. Our chocolate bars were made using only the finest Caraibe chocolate ingredients and production processes by Karim Bourgi - He trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris btw. We delivered to the victims of online abuse and used their large social followings to create mass awareness. Additional buzz came via radio, TV interviews, online news channels, plus we had digital screens and posters placements sites across Dubai given to us for free.

List the results (20% of vote)

With a tiny budget we achieved unprecedented reach, awareness, brand uplift, fame and love. · Project cost: $7,623 · Earned media: $1.26M · Impressions: 261M · Global reach: 18 Countries · Press, radio, tv and online mentions +100 · Internet positivity, sentiment, love increased by + 0.072574321% · Karim Bourgi (our client) gained 126K new fans, and a few (13) new trolls in a month.