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Original poster

Tony's Chocolonely

104 replies

Ekerty72 · 13/12/2021 09:55

This happened on 8th December so I'm not sure why I haven't seen it until now. An advent calendar from Tony's took away a chocolate to highlight inequality within the chocolate industry and the children that work in the industry. As a marketing tool I thought it was clever. Opinion however was divided as there was no warning for neurodivergent children so they did issue an apology...

Made me really think though......if you have a moment have a read of their statement and why they did it....

tonyschocolonely.com/uk/en/why-our-calendar-is-unequally-divided-choco-fans

OP posts:
KimDeals · 13/12/2021 13:27

@OhNoWhatYouGonnaDo

I think they should have explained somewhere on the box that this was going to happen.
It is explained on the box - but I didn’t read it until after my daughter came to me in floods of outraged tears that there was “no chocolate today”. She went absolutely bonkers.

I explained it to her and she roars “I don’t want to be taught a lesson!!!” in response! But it actually worked as she is still talking about it. Because it said “unequally divided” I said oh I bet you get double another day…

We did actually have some good chats about how labour is unequally divided, how some children work, (completely shocked) … all in all, I think it’s a good campaign!

My mistake was buying these advent calendars for children. They like some but not all of the chocolate … they would walk across nails to get a bar of Tony’s salted caramel though

Tinkletwat · 13/12/2021 13:29

@middleager

I'm confused by the hypocrisy. Weren't they dropped by the ethical traders list?
They explain that here tonyschocolonely.com/uk/en/our-mission/news/why-we-are-not-on-all-lists-of-ethical-chocolate-brands
Shiningpath · 13/12/2021 14:07

I didn’t read it until after my daughter came to me in floods of outraged tears that there was “no chocolate today”. She went absolutely bonkers.

Unless there are some special needs here that is a massive overreaction.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General food
WhatScratch · 13/12/2021 14:19

There are days when I might burst into tears if I opened a chocolate wrapper and found it empty Grin

WineGetsMeThroughIt · 13/12/2021 14:19

Oh glad I saw this. But oddly it was yesterday's door that had no chocolate in it for my husband. Not the 8th. Still got 2 chocolates in 9 though!

Think that's it's a stilly idea though really.

ShirleyPhallus · 13/12/2021 14:21

It is explained on the box - but I didn’t read it until after my daughter came to me in floods of outraged tears that there was “no chocolate today”. She went absolutely bonkers.

I explained it to her and she roars “I don’t want to be taught a lesson!!!” in response!

This cannot be real

NumaNumaYay · 13/12/2021 14:23

@LadyCampanulaTottington

I have a 6 figure Instagram following for my business. I tagged them in a post about getting a gift of a bar from a fan in NL. I got a DM back with an essay about their work protecting cacao farmers. I love the idea but it felt so condescending and righteous. The campaign language needs work IMO.
In a world where the poor are mercilessly exploited for profit, God forbid anyone do anything "righteous" or have the gall to tell people about it Hmm

Their bars have always had the unequal divisions and a message about it.

I thought this advent calendar stunt was cheeky but a good idea, until I saw there were 2 the next day!

ToffeeNotCoffee · 13/12/2021 14:24

Is the chocolate any good ?

WineGetsMeThroughIt · 13/12/2021 14:26

@ToffeeNotCoffee

Is the chocolate any good ?

The salted caramel bar is amazing!! Has chunks of sea salt and crunchy caramel bits (kind of like a crushed up Daim bar) inside. I like the almond one as well abs a few others. I've tried most abs have really enjoyed them all

Lockheart · 13/12/2021 14:31

It's quite clearly explained on the box.

It's well known what their brand ethos is.

This should not have been a surprise to anyone. And isn't thinking of others supposed to be what Christmas is about?

But no, the outrage from well-off westerners (and if you can afford their advent calendars you are well off!!) that they had to wait another 24 hours for a small piece of chocolate is totally the issue here.

Delphinna · 13/12/2021 14:33

I want a bit of chocolate, not a lecture. Life is hard enough without ruining a little treat by being all preachy.

Lockheart · 13/12/2021 14:34

@Delphinna

I want a bit of chocolate, not a lecture. Life is hard enough without ruining a little treat by being all preachy.
Then buy a different brand.
Delphinna · 13/12/2021 14:38

Also I notice they refer to it as a “countdown calendar” not an advent calendar. Countdown to what? If you don’t believe in advent/Christmas then you don’t need a countdown calendar because you’re not counting down to anything!

ReeseWitherfork · 13/12/2021 14:38

@Delphinna

I want a bit of chocolate, not a lecture. Life is hard enough without ruining a little treat by being all preachy.
I didn't really know much about what they're "preaching" so I'm quite glad they offer information. I'm guessing the people clued up on it probably know the other ethical brands available without the info on the packaging?
WineGetsMeThroughIt · 13/12/2021 14:43

@Lockheart

It's quite clearly explained on the box.

It's well known what their brand ethos is.

This should not have been a surprise to anyone. And isn't thinking of others supposed to be what Christmas is about?

But no, the outrage from well-off westerners (and if you can afford their advent calendars you are well off!!) that they had to wait another 24 hours for a small piece of chocolate is totally the issue here.

We love their chocolate. Abs are familiar with their ethos. But to expect someone to read all of the writing on an advent calendar to ensure they're fully up to speed on what they're getting (or not getting) in this case us a bit silly. Who had time in the super market when faced with a dozen or more advent calendars to read all the details first and even anticipate there may not be a chocolate behind one door.

Granted, we weren't really that bothered - and I did point out that maybe that's why door 9 had two in it, it was still confusing.

Comefromaway · 13/12/2021 14:54

@Delphinna

I want a bit of chocolate, not a lecture. Life is hard enough without ruining a little treat by being all preachy.
Then Tony's is not the brand for you.
tbtf · 13/12/2021 14:59

I can't understand all the frothing about this, when I was a kid (lol) chocolates used to slip in the tray and you'd hunt round for it, I was certainly not entitled enough to cry about a chocolate missing.

Also if you're fancy enough to get your kids a £13 advent calendar then you will be fancy enough to have other food in the house to provide a bit of chocolate for poor little Timmy who can't wait til tomorrow.

Thirdly; back in my day advent calendars were just pictures and that was enough!

repottingthescabious · 13/12/2021 15:01

i wish my milk bar of Tony's Chocolonely was empty when as 2 nights ago i ate it and have had a massive sinus headache since. greedy guts

LadyCampanulaTottington · 13/12/2021 15:03

@NumaNumaYay clearly you didn’t read my post properly at all.

I never said anything about the ethos not being sound, what I said was the wording of the campaign messaging that was DM’d to me was condescending.

immersivereader · 13/12/2021 15:03

World gone mad

repottingthescabious · 13/12/2021 15:03

@ToffeeNotCoffee

Is the chocolate any good ?
no. Divine is much nicer.
Cyrilgoggin · 13/12/2021 15:12

Threads like this make me think we should go back to the days when all we got when we opened the advent calendar was a little picture. Not a chocolate (or beauty product or Lego or wine or gin or cheese) in sight.....

The worlds gone mad. Maybe I'm just old.

MothershipG · 13/12/2021 15:18

I have one of these and haven't read a single word of the text so once more MN has provided useful education 😂👍🏻

amillionrosepetals · 13/12/2021 15:26

@WhatScratch

There are days when I might burst into tears if I opened a chocolate wrapper and found it empty Grin
Me too. Any of the days that end in a y.
TyrannysaurusXXrightshoarder · 13/12/2021 15:32

They explain that here….

“Barry Callebaut has believed in our mission and collaborated with us to set up fully segregated processing for our 100% traceable beans so they are never mixed with other beans. Working with Barry Callebaut allows us to further scale up our production and enables us to grow Tony’s Open Chain”

This is laughable. So it’s ok to work with a producer with links to child slavery as long as they say:
“hey, we’re holding our hands up here, at least you can see we work with them, so you know, traceability. And the fact that working with BC allows us to make chocolate, cheaply, and at scale (unlike the truly ethical small scale makers) well that’s just a coincidence“

As bad as companies who use ‘sustainable palm oil’ when there is, in reality, no such thing.