Cadbury 5Star and Ogilvy India team up with uncles to end Valentine’s Day

With a fresh new take, Cadbury 5star continues its annual tradition of rescuing people who want to “do nothing” on Valentine’s Day via latest Ogilvy India campaign.

For several years now, Cadbury 5star with the tagline of “Eat 5 Star, Do Nothing” has been showing support to people who dread Valentine’s Day and would much rather spend it ‘doing nothing’. After devising a time-travel hack in 2024 to help people skip the entire day in minutes, the brand is back with an audacious plan to make this the last Valentine’s Day ever with the most unexpected secret weapon: Uncles.

The campaign’s launch film introduces a data scientist who explains that several youth trends in the recent past have ended in a similar fashion – when older audiences adopt them. From skinny jeans to youth slang and social media platforms losing their cool factor, the pattern is clear—once the older crowd joins in, the youth move on.

Extending this pattern, Cadbury 5 Star proposes that if uncles take over Valentine’s Day, the youth will quickly lose interest in participating in it, and the rituals around V-Day may vanish in no time. To test this theory, this year, the brand will spend its entire Valentine’s Week marketing budget on uncles – by paying older couples to go on dates and take over Valentine’s Day. The brand will also promote mushy Valentine’s Day videos made by older couples on social media platforms, so that uncles are everywhere this V-day – online and offline.

Nitin Saini, Vice President Marketing- Mondelez India, said: “At Cadbury 5 Star, we’ve always championed the virtue of doing nothing. Valentine’s Day often comes with a lot of pressure of putting on a romantic show, but it is certainly not for everyone. We wanted to take a light-hearted and fun approach to disrupt Valentine’s Day—by enlisting the help of uncles, who are often the last people associated with romance. It is a fun way to demonstrate the lengths to which we at 5star will go to by battling anything that gets in the way of Doing Nothing”.

Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India, said: “5 Star’s counterculture take on the cringe around Valentine’s Day has been gaining popularity year on year, so it was a no-brainer that we’d come back with something even bigger. 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, led by Rajneesh Bolia 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.”

Shekhar Banerjee, Chief Client Officer & Office Head – Wavemaker India, said: “Cadbury 5 Star known for its counterculture play, is turning Valentine’s Day into ‘Destroy V-Day’ this year, with a cheeky, disruptive message. Our multi-platform strategy targets a digitally native audience through engaging content on Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, while extending reach through strategic TV placements for broader reach. The campaign is amplified through strategic partnerships across cinema, retail, and sports, ensuring maximum impact and resonance. Supported by a unique KOL strategy that mirrors the playful, counter-culture spirit of our brand. In a sea of predictable Valentine’s Day messaging, Cadbury 5 Star is poised to disrupt the norm and own the conversation.”

To join Cadbury 5 Star’s mission, consumers who are tired of Valentine’s Day can nominate uncles they know by visiting www.destroyvalentinesday.com. Not only will they receive a “date allowance” from Cadbury 5 Star, but the person who nominates them will also earn a “commission.”