Roses are red, violets are blue, Cadbury’s V-Day campaign brings 'uncles' to you

The annual parade of overpriced chocolates, cringe-worthy couple selfies and enough red hearts to make even Cupid gag is around the corner. Just when Ad Nut thought there was no escape, Cadbury 5 Star swoops in with a plan so devious, so deliciously absurd, it might actually work: unleash the uncles.

Yes, uncles. The unsung heroes of awkward WhatsApp forwards and dad jokes are now leading the charge to destroy Valentine’s Day. Why? Because Cadbury 5 Star, with its 'Eat 5 Star, Do Nothing' mantra, has decided it’s time to put this overly saccharine holiday out of its misery.

Creative arm Ogilvy tapped on the insight that nothing kills a trend faster than 'uncles' adopting it: From skinny jeans to dad sneakers to TikTok dances, the youth abandon ship the moment uncles take over. So, why not do the same with Valentine’s Day?

The plan: Cadbury 5 Star is spending its entire Valentine’s Week marketing budget to make uncles the face of romance. They’re paying older couples to go on dates, flooding social media with mushy, uncle-centric love stories, and basically making Valentine’s Day so uncool that even the most committed romantics will cringe their way out of it.

Nitin Saini, VP of marketing at Mondelez India, explains, “Valentine’s Day is a lot of pressure—grand gestures, forced romance—it’s not for everyone. At Cadbury 5 Star, we've championed doing nothing. We wanted to take a light-hearted & fun approach to disrupt Valentine’s Day."

Ad Nut can already picture it: Uncles awkwardly holding roses, uncles posting captioned selfies like, 'Date night with my jaan (love)❤️ #CoupleGoals,' and slow-dancing in a sea of fairy lights. It’s enough to ruin dinner plans for an entire generation.

And here’s the kicker—you can visit the microsite, nominate your favourite uncle to join the fun. Not only will they receive a “date allowance” to unleash their inner Romeo, but users will earn a “commission” for recruiting them. Everyone wins. Except Valentine’s Day, of course.

Sukesh Nayak, chief creative officer at Ogilvy India, said: "While last year we explored technological interventions like time travel, this time Karunasagar Sridharan (ECD Ogilvy) came up with a completely different yet simple and relatable solution. And our Creative Tech team, helped build the platform to interview and recruit 'uncles' who can take this mission forward while rewarding the youth, so that everyone who is tired of the mush around V-Day can actively contribute to pruning it."

The campaign includes a full media blitz across Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and TV to ensure that uncles are everywhere this Valentine’s Day.

Ad Nut admits this cheeky, counterculture mischief is exactly what the world needs right now. With Trump’s dreadful headlines and sweeping changes dominating the airwaves, a little uncle-led chaos feels like a sweet, gooey escape from reality. Who knows, this could even be the last Valentine’s Day we ever have (no pressure, Cupid). Ad Nut is perfectly fine with that.

That said, the campaign does tread into ageist territory. The notion that an entire cohort should stay in their lane, skip the mushy stuff, and leave TikToks to the kids might make a few people bristle. But let’s not take it too seriously—it’s aimed at a young, irreverent audience that thrives on laughs, not fairness.

CREDITS

CCOs India: Sukesh Nayak, Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha
Executive chairperson: Hephzibah Pathak
CEO: VR Rajesh
President and head of Mumbai and Kolkata office: Hirol Gandhi
CCO Mumbai: Anuraag Agnihotri
CSO / DCSO: Ganapathy Balagopalan
Creative team: Karunasagar Sridharan, Jugal Joseph, Nishigandh Dhende, Himanshu Sonparote, Darshan Dhonde
Account management team: Beenu Kurup, Priya Thakkar, Patrick Britto, Bindu Singh, Isha Savla, Vanishree Iyer
Brand strategy team: Russell John, Shiksha Singh, Aayushi Jadli
Creative tech team: Rajneesh Bolia, Vaishali Mange, Dishant Malik, Manisha Kumari
Client team: Cadbury 5 Star - Nitin Saini, Siddharth Singh, Syed Rizvi, Yash Desai, Arpita Kalubarme, Anjali Madan, Satnam Ajmani, Vednarayan Sirdeshpande, Thomas Oomen, Aishwarya Jain, Priya Dixit, Rakhee Bansal, Aishwarya Chopra
Director: Nitin Menon
Production house: Retro Films
Media team: Wavemaker India
Tech partner: Oobedu

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.