Cadbury Wispa

Wispa is a chocolate bar made by Cadbury for the U.K. and Ireland market. Subtypes of this bar included Wispa Gold (caramel filling) introduced in 1995, Wispa Bite (caramel and biscuit filling) introduced in 2000, Wispaccino (coffee flavoured filling) and Wispa Mint (mint layer).

The bar was launched in 1981 as a trial version in North East England and with its success it was introduced nationally in 1983. It was seen as a competitor to Nestle's Aero.citation|date=August 20, 2007 |url =http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/18/nwispa118.xml| title = Cadbury plans Wispa revival| first=Harry |last=Wallop |=publisher = Telegraph| accessdate =2007-08-26] The bar was seen as a favourite and an icon of the 80s. Despite this the product had declining sales and was discontinued as the Wispa in 2003.

In 2003, after its discontinuation, Cadbury brought the Wispa back onto market as "Dairy Milk Bubbly", reformatting it as a standard 'chunks' bar (similar to other 'Dairy Milk' products) instead of the earlier whole-bar approach.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3008325.stm|title=New name for Wispa bar?|date=2003-05-07|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2007-08-26] cite web|date= May 27, 2007 |url=http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=832532007|title=Sweet dreams are made of this|last=Raeburn|first=Steven|publisher= Scotsman|accessdate=2007-09-23] However, in 2007, helped by an internet campaign, the Wispa bar was relaunched, albeit for a "limited period".cite web| date = August 18, 2007| url =http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1280368,00.html| title = Internet Forces Return Of 80s Icon| publisher = Sky News| accessdate =2007-08-26] In October 2008 Wispa returned again to shops in the UK due to the chocolate bar's popularity during the previous limited period release. [http://www.cadbury.com/media/press/Pages/wispaofficiallyback.aspx]

Manufacture

The tiny bubbles within the chocolate are formed by aerating the molten chocolate with gas, typically carbon dioxide or nitrogen while at a high pressure which causes microscopic gas bubbles to form within the liquid. The liquid is then brought down to atmospheric pressure as it cools, causing the gas pockets to expand and become trapped in the chocolate.cite web|date= August 18, 2007 |url=http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?id=61301-chocolate-bubbles-gas|title=Laughing gas makes best bubbles in chocolate |publisher=Food Navigator|accessdate=2007-10-27]

Advertising

The bar was launched by teaser advertisements in 1983 bearing the phrase "Have you heard the Wispa?" but without identifying the product as a chocolate bar. Original Wispa advertisements, all performed to camera in front of a black background, featured well known actors such as Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Simon Cadell, Ruth Madoc, Mel Smith, and Peter Cook. John Le Mesurier and Arthur Lowe also made a final appearance as their characters from "Dad's Army".

Relaunch

Since the discontinuation of the Wispa bar in 2003, several internet campaigns and an online petition to bring it back slowly gained momentum. During Iggy Pop's 2007 performance at Glastonbury Festival, several Wispa fans invaded the stage armed with a banner saying "Bring Back the Wispa." In addition, several "Bring Back Wispa" groups on Bebo, MySpace and Facebook were set up.cite web| date = August 18, 2007| url =http://www.talkingretail.com/products/6172/Cadbury-to-revive-Wispa-chocol.ehtml| title = Cadbury to revive Wispa chocolate bar for limited period| publisher = Talking Retail| accessdate =2007-08-26] In August 2007, these campaigns prompted Cadbury to announce that the bar would be relaunched on October 8, 2007 for an initial limited production of 23 million bars, with a permanent return possible if sales are high enough.cite web| date = August 18, 2007| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6952362.stm| title = Web campaign prompts Wispa return| publisher = BBC News| accessdate =2007-08-26] Predictions that the relaunched product would be marketed as "Wispa Classic"cite web| date = August 20, 2007| url =http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Article.aspx?id=2721&SectionID=| title = Cadbury’s re-launch Wispa| publisher = UTalkMarketing.com| accessdate =2007-08-26] proved unfounded, and the new Wispa hit shelves in similar packaging to the original bar although visuably shrunk in size.

On the 24 August 2007, the first box of the relaunched Wispas was put up for auction on eBay, with a press release from Cadbury saying that the auction was real and that the proceeds (the winning bid was £195.00) were going toward the Cadbury Charity, Ghana for the Source.cite web| date = August 24, 2007| url = http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/information/press_releases/products/wispaauction/?CMP=ILC-ebwi| title = First Wispa bars auctioned on Ebay| publisher = Cadbury| accessdate =2007-09-23]

In February 2008, Rebecca Wells auctioned an original out-of-date Wispa bar, which she found in a sofa, on eBay for the charity LAM Action.cite web| date = February 10, 2008| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/7237724.stm| title = Online bids for 'rare' Wispa bar| publisher = BBC| accessdate =2008-02-10] The initial winning bid of £2,550 was found by eBay to be "unauthorised".cite web|date=February 11, 2008 |title='Rare' Wispa auction in meltdown |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/7238680.stm |publisher=BBC |accessdate=2008-02-15] It has since been re-listed, and raised £1000 for the charity.

It was announced in August 2008 that the bar would return on a permanent basis in October 2008, with an RRP of 45p, however as of September 23, 2008 it is now available in some stores. It was revealed that Wispa variants, such as Wispa Gold and Wispa Mint will also be reintroduced as "limited editions" alongside the regular Wispa's return in the Autumn of 2008. [ [http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=60300&d=258&h=262&f=3 Cadbury brings back Wispa permanently 2008-08-03] ] Prior to the permanent launch of Wispa, for a limited time a Wispa McFlurry was available at McDonald's restaurants until September 30th 2008. [http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/pages/eatsmart/treatyourself.html]

References

External links

* [http://www.cadbury.co.uk/en/ctb2003/product_info/wispa Wispa at Cadbury]
* [http://www.free-book.co.uk/shop/food-drink/sweets-chocolate/wispa-chocolate-bar.htm Wispa Chocolate Bar]