Why This Canadian Chocolatier Let an Actual Bunny Paw-Pick Its Easter Gift Box
One of the best parts about Easter is the chocolate! Religious or not, it doesn’t matter - the holiday is a great occasion to share delicious chocolates with friends and family. It could be you buying, it could be the Easter bunny making a surprising appearance overnight, but all the same, it’s a time of fun, thoughtfulness, and perhaps the teensiest bit of magic.
This is certainly something that Purdys Chocolatier believes in. And, ahead of the holiday, the brand once again partnered up with Canadian creative agency Rethink to craft the perfect campaign. But what could the pair come up with, in order to encourage Canadians to create treasured memories involving loved ones and Purdys Chocolatier? As it turned out, the answer was sitting right in front of them. Why not let an actual Easter bunny decide?
Creating a miniature version of the Purdys Chocolatier factory, they saw a trained rabbit run around the location, gently pressing buttons with its nose to decide what chocolates would go in the limited-edition ‘Bunny’s Choice Gift Box’. Available for $23, the selection process was captured and turned into a spot, which is running across the country. Additionally, Rethink also organised a media event, inviting influencers and media from across Vancouver to preview the product at the one and only The Bunny Cafe.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Rethink creative directors Grace Cho and Cam Spires, and Purdys Chocolatier director of marketing Julia Cho, to chat more about how this cute campaign came to life.
LBB> What was the brief, and what immediate ideas came to mind?
Julia> For our Easter campaign, we wanted to encourage Canadians to create Easter memories with their loved ones and Purdys Chocolatier.
Rethink has been our creative partner since 2021. They really understand our brand and our purpose to create connection and joy through the power of chocolate. We’ve seen firsthand the creativity they bring to the table. Together, we’ve worked on campaigns such as making the first braille chocolate box, and travelling to the Arctic to make ‘North Pole Salted Caramels’. It’s really a partnership built on trust and communication, so naturally, we wanted to work on our Easter brief together.
Grace & Cam> Purdys Chocolatier’s Easter 2023 brief focused on bringing the magic of Easter and love of the holiday’s chocolates to the forefront, while also demonstrating how thoughtful the occasion can be. From the beginning, we knew that we wanted to go with an idea that highlighted the holiday’s whimsy.
LBB> How did the idea of bringing in an actual Easter bunny come to pass?
Grace & Cam> The start of our creative process is led by a sharing of initial ideas (without taking any idea off the table, no matter how bizarre). When the idea of the ‘Bunny’s Choice Gift Box’ was shared, it became a natural favourite for us and Purdys Chocolatier. The concept of an actual bunny deciding which chocolates to put in a chocolate box had everybody so excited, so we had to make it happen!
Julia> There were other ideas we explored as well, but we knew we were onto something special with the idea of bringing in an actual Easter bunny. There was instant laughter in the room, and we were so excited at the thought of sharing this with our customers across Canada. These were all signs that this was the best idea of the bunch!
LBB> Let’s talk about the miniature factory that the bunny runs around in. How did you go about designing it, and how long did it take to create?
Grace & Cam> From very early on, we had the vision of a magical, whimsical, miniature Purdys Chocolatier factory in the brand’s purples and golds, built to the scale of a little bunny. So, we brought on Justin Poulsen to blow out our roughly sketched vision and moodboards into a proportionate 3D visualisation. Then we collaborated with IRL Creative, who specialise in custom builds for film and TV, to bring the whole thing to life. It was a combination of completely custom pieces and repurposed pieces. The set was 6 feet by 6 feet, with construction taking about two weeks.
LBB> Beyond this, how was the production process? Do you have any interesting stories or anecdotes from on set?
Grace & Cam> Given the fact that we were working with bunny talent, the takes were super long to allow the bunny to comfortably explore the set at its own pace. During this time, we watched the bunny roam the factory and interact with certain chocolates, while we fastidiously logged any notable actions or movements in a live document.
LBB> Where did the bunny come from, and what was working with it like? And what was the process of training the bunny like?
Grace & Cam> Our star was named Jessica Rabbit and she was the consummate professional. She was actually a rescue (her previous owner could not care for her anymore), and only the bunny handler was allowed to hold or touch her at any given moment.
Our talent was fed a lot of rabbit-appropriate snacks like lettuce, shredded carrot, and sprouts, and had been trained by a bunny trainer in preparation for the shoot to ‘boop’ buttons with her nose. She even had her own green room, and we made sure we had complete silence on set anytime she was outside of it.
LBB> A very memorable shot is the bunny winking. Was this something you were deliberately looking for, or did the camera organically capture a perfect moment?
Grace & Cam> We couldn’t have storyboarded a more perfect wink. It happened completely organically. It was an Easter miracle!
LBB> Which chocolates did the bunny ultimately choose?
Julia> Our Easter bunny ended up choosing four ‘Pecan Caramels’, three ‘Mini Hedgehogs’, two ‘Mango’, two ‘Peanut Butter Crunch’, one ‘Dark Himalayan Pink Salt Caramel’, one ‘Salted Hazelnut Flake’, one ‘Caramel Carnival’, one ‘Almond Burst’, and one ‘Saskatoon Berry’. You can definitely tell Jessica Rabbit had some favourites!
LBB> The campaign has also been bolstered by a live event at The Bunny Cafe in Vancouver. Tell us more about this! Where did this idea come from, and how did it go?
Grace & Cam> Our PR team discovered The Bunny Cafe, and we had to incorporate it into the launch! The Bunny Cafe houses rescued bunnies from Rabbitats, a 100% volunteer-run charity dedicated to helping abandoned rabbits. This is also the charity that Purdys donated $5,000 to this Easter.
The cafe event was open to media and influencers. Guests could feed the bunnies while enjoying drinks from the cafe, then Purdys Chocolatier’s master chocolatier, Rachel McKinley, hosted a chocolate tasting in the cafe seating area. The event was a success! Guests had a great time, allowing us to capture content to build excitement around the launch.
LBB> What challenges did you face during this project, and how did you overcome them?
Julia> Timing posed a challenge for us. We typically work on product development two years ahead of time. As such, it was a very new experience for our chocolate production team to hear that we had to wait for the bunny to actually choose the chocolates!
One way we worked through this is that rather than having the bunny choose from our entire lineup of chocolates, it chose from a shorter list of chocolates. This way, we were able to ensure we made enough of each potential chocolate to be able to pack the final ‘Bunny’s Choice Gift Box’, even before the bunny had made its final selections.
LBB> What lessons have you learned from the making of this campaign?
Julia> The best ideas are new - things we haven’t attempted before - and this is certainly the case with our ‘Bunny’s Choice Gift Box’. We’ve never had a bunny help us make a chocolate box!
But, with new ideas comes the challenge of figuring out how to bring it to life. We’ve learned that there will undoubtedly be bumps along the way. However, those are not signs that the idea is flawed. Rather, they’re signs that the idea is innovative.
LBB> What has the response to the campaign been like?
Grace & Cam> Responses to the campaign have been incredibly positive. We’re glad that the enjoyment we had making it has translated into positive responses.
Julia> The response has been super positive! Many of our customers and employees have children, and we’ve heard the best stories of kids reacting to the video. We’ve also had people come into our shops asking for the box they saw in the commercial. A common reaction has been people saying that this is the cutest video ever, and this is exactly the response we were hoping for!
LBB> How does this campaign fit into Purdys Chocolatier’s platform for the 2023 year?
Julia> Purdys Chocolatier’s purpose is to create connection and joy through the power of chocolate. This informs the work we do at every level of the business, from chocolate development to customer service in-shop, and it’s been a common thread through our recent brand campaigns.
We also get very excited thinking of new ways to bring joy to Canadians! It’s the reason why we developed a vegan collection, created a Nowruz gift box, and made the ‘Bunny’s Choice Gift Box’. At the heart of everything is our customer.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add?
Grace & Cam> While from initial creative ideation to launch, this campaign took three months to produce. And, to answer the question, of course we’ve tried the ‘Bunny’s Choice Gift Box’! The Easter bunny made great choices!
Julia> Behind everything we do at Purdys Chocolatier, there’s a hardworking team of people who make things happen! I’m always amazed at how passionate and excited our team gets when it comes to new campaigns and product launches. There’s great care that goes into every step of the journey ‒ from making the chocolate in the factory and hand packing the chocolates to forecasting the product accurately and merchandising it on the site. We all hope people enjoy the ‘Bunny’s Choice’ chocolates with their loved ones this Easter!
