Cadbury Flake

Cadbury Flake is a bar of thinly folded milk chocolate produced in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and South Africa by Cadbury.

The product was first developed in 1920 and was founded by an employee of Cadburys. When the excess from the moulds was drained off, it fell off in a stream and created folded chocolate with flaking properties. [ [http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/about_chocolate/brand_stories/flake.htm Corporate history of the product] ]

In the UK ice cream vendors serve '99s' which are vanilla soft serve ice cream in a wafer cone in which a half size Flake bar is inserted in the top. South African and Australian ice cream vans also offer Flakes with soft serves. Cadbury has also come out with a version which is sold in supermarkets.

Variations

Several varieties of Flake have been produced over the years, including:

*Flake Noir - a dark chocolate flake bar [ [http://www.cadbury.com.au/sites/cadbury/index.php?pageId=62 Cadbury Australia - Home - Products - Chocolate Bars - Flake ] ] )

*Flake Snow - a white chocolate flake bar dipped into milk chocolate. (Previously known as Snowflake)

*Flake Dipped - milk chocolate flake dipped into milk chocolate (resembles a larger version of Twirl).

*Flake Praline - milk chocolate flake with praline

*Flake Bar

The Flake girl advert

The product gained some notoriety for its highly sensual advertising. In the UK, the adverts showed people - almost always women - enjoying a Flake whilst relaxing.

The Flake Girl became famous as a symbol of indulgence and secret pleasure. Her emphasis - to a raspingly emotional jingle ("Only the crumbliest, flakiest chocolate, tastes like chocolate never tasted before"), voted third most memorable of all time - was on allowing herself a guilt-free luxury. However, many saw in the delicacy with which she nibbled the crumbly chocolate bar, more than a hint of sexual pleasure. That, of course, was why it was so successful.

In the 1970s, an advert was taken off air following complaints about the suggestive manner in which the woman bit into the bar.

In 1999, a tribute commercial to the Flake Girls of decades past was released, much to the delight of nostalgic fans. The montage began with a clip of the very first Flake Girl commercial from 1959, followed by a 1965 clip of a girl relaxing in a row boat whilst being pestered by a cheeky swan for a peck of her Flake bar. The next clip showed the 1973 ad of a doe-eyed artist in a field of poppies painting a watercolour and indulging in a Flake bar, before being caught in a summer shower. This was followed by a clip of the exotic 1987 ad in which a restless woman in silk negligee reposes on a window sill on a sultry night, indulging in a Flake bar whilst a gecko lizard is noted crawling over a ringing telephone. Next was a clip of the classical 1991 Flake ad in which a woman sporting a dark, cropped hairstyle (resembling Demi Moore and Enya's hair at the time) reposes in an overflowing bath tub in a great painted hall. Lastly, this tribute montage commercial ended with the latest Flake Girl ad (1999), featuring a Parisienne relaxing in a summery garden overlooking the Eiffel Tower. As she bites into the Flake bar in her ice-cream, the garden sprinklers are set off and she is drenched in refreshing water.

The Flake girl was finally killed-off after 40 years, in 2004 [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3570680.stm BBC NEWS | Magazine | R.I.P. The Flake girl ] ] However, in 2005 she was found to have a 19% recall in the UK population, leading to a revival in 2007. [ [http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=783502006 The Scotsman ] ] The new advert featured a model eating a Flake in a convertible during a shower of rain.

UK singer Joss Stone is the new Flake girl of 2008 - the first non-model to promote the product. In the commercial she is seen breaking off a small piece of Flake before popping it into her mouth and brushing the crumbs off her blouse while softly singing the Flake theme song. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7146879.stm Singer Stone is new Flake girl ] ]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.cadburyflake.co.uk Official Website]
* [http://www.cadbury.co.uk/flake] 2007 advert
* [http://www.cadbury.com.au/sites/cadbury/index.php?pageId=62| Cadbury Australia]