A feast of Easter creativity from Cadbury to Carlsberg

#EasterCallsForTheGoodStuff from Waitrose

Waitrose has gone all in on Easter this year on its socials, with staff miming along to the admittedly catchy ‘first hit single’ I Might Pick It Up at Waitrose, while brandishing Easter items from the boujee supermarket of choice, all under the #EasterCallsForTheGoodStuff hashtag.

Easter Deserves More

Meanwhile, Waitrose’s flagship campaign invites viewers to indulge in a selection of the grocer's seasonal delights, including 'Sam on Toast', the Hot Cross Bunettone, and the No.1 Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns.

In partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi, Waitrose has crafted a vibrant campaign showcasing its premium products, promising that "Easter Deserves More."

To amplify the campaign's reach, Waitrose has teamed up with content creator and TV personality Sam Thompson for a playful social media teaser. Additionally, farming creator Julius Roberts will curate an array of recipes, further enhancing the Easter experience for Waitrose customers.

Cadbury’s goes hunting

Cadbury’s, the much-loved chocolatier, rarely misses a chance for some Easter creative. This year, its ‘World Wide Hide’ campaign (by VCCP) prompts customers to write a clue for their loved one to help them find their egg – in a place that means something to just you and them – from ‘our favourite picnic spot’ to ‘our usual woodland walk’ or ‘where we catch up over coffee’. 

Using the clue, your special someone can search for their Easter egg – reminding them of your precious memories together.

Tesco takes egg hunting into the 21st Century

Cadbury’s campaign is reminiscent of a supermarket with a fine pedigree of Easter entertainment. Way back in 2013, before Pokemon Go* honed the art of the hyper-local creature foraging, Tesco set about enticing Easter egg addicts with its (sort of) early AR adoption. 

Customers were invited to visit the dedicated page, enter their postal code, and initiate a virtual egg hunt via Google Street View. Those who successfully encountered three eggs or the special golden egg would go on to win big prizes.

Of course, 2024 boasts a whole new digital palette ripe for Easter opportunities, including the Apple Vision Pro, Web 3.0 engagement and far more sophisticated mobile graphics. Creatives might do well to exploit these next year.

*Pop fact: I once found a Pokemon loitering in my local funeral parlour.

An understated Easter

While Tesco pulled out all the stops, J.Crew’s Easter email campaign utilised the art of simple messaging, proving sometimes all you need is a punchy egg pun, a seasonal discount code and a picture of an egg.

Deliveroo takes the Easter campaign throne

Deliveroo, meanwhile, hatched a memorable Easter scheme in time for the finale of Game of Thrones back in 2019 by hiding five dragon eggs in orders, with each one promising a princely sum of £5,000 in Deliveroo credit. 

To secure the prize app users had to find the specially designed 3D-printed golden dragon egg, which was surreptitiously tucked into random orders as part of the #MondayIsComing campaign.

Deliveroo smartly referenced the iconic series’ much loved dragons to tease out a neat ‘hunt’ related marketing campaign: creatively tied in with a culturally significant event, the show’s final episode. It also wins plaudits for lavishing a genuinely mouth-watering prize as the reward.

Carlsberg plays to its strengths

One of our favourite Easter campaigns, however, belongs to Carlsberg, that unveiled its latest innovation – a ground-breaking pop-up bar in London crafted entirely from chocolate! The pop-up, titled "If Carlsberg Did Chocolate Bars," materialised as a colossal chocolate slab adorning the wall of the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch.

At the stroke of noon, Carlsberg unveiled the foil covering, revealing a fully functional, three-meter-deep pop-up bar, specially designed for the upcoming Easter bank holiday weekend.

Notable features included a meticulously crafted chocolate dartboard, bespoke chocolate bar stools, and a custom chocolate television screen showcasing iconic English World Cup moments.

While I promised myself I wouldn’t use the word ‘eggcellent’ in this article, it’s pretty apt here. The beer brand plays on its famous ‘If Carlsberg did…’ strapline perfectly, creating a genuinely joyful, Wonkaesque innovation for the masses to enjoy.