Retro Commercials: Cadbury Creme Eggs

I don’t know about you, but commercials can often take me back to my formative years as quickly as any song or movie can. That is why we will continue this semi-regular feature on ’80s commercials that I consider particularly memorable, noteworthy, or forgotten. Television commercials were much more influential back when we were forced to watch them without the luxury to fast-forward through and/or stream shows with limited or no interruptions. This issue will cover the commercials for Cadbury Creme Eggs from the ’80s.

When it comes to Easter candy, some people think of jelly beans, some think of Peeps, but I always think of Cadbury Eggs first. It is not necessarily because I like to eat them, but more because of the commercials from when I was a kid. This candy only comes around during the Easter season. They are made to look like real eggs with a milk chocolate shell and a white soft fondant filling with a little yellow to look like a yolk. They originate from and are more popular in the UK, but are also made by Hershey in the United States under license from Cadbury. While filled eggs were first manufactured by the Cadbury Brothers in 1923, the Cadbury Creme Egg in its current form was introduced back in 1971. I apologize to anyone who grew up elsewhere, but since I grew up in the U.S., we will focus on the commercials created by Hershey to market the candy in America.

These commercials featured the recognizable voiceover done by Mason Adams and the slogan “Nobunny Knows Easter Better than Cadbury”. There are two commercials from the ’80s that I particularly remember for Cadbury Creme Eggs. They started airing them in the mid-80s, but wisely kept using the same memorable commercials each Easter season for years and years to come. The first commercial features a bunny that’s sitting on a nest clucking like a chicken…

The second commercial features different rabbits auditioning to become the Cadbury bunny…

Then in the early ’90s some other animals tried to become the Cadbury bunny…

There you go, another trip down memory lane in the form of TV commercials. Of all of my Easter television memories from being a kid, those Cadbury Egg commercials always stand out for some reason. Even though I had so many other candies that I preferred, I think it was the annual tradition of seeing the same Cadbury commercials each year that made it synonymous with the Easter season. Just like Christmas, many of the best, most memorable seasonal/holiday commercials were used for multiple years. Brands would be wise to keep that in mind and establish their own annual commercial traditions. It sure worked back in the ’80s and we’re thankful for that.

More Retro Commercial Features on TRN

• Spuds MacKenzie for Bud Light
• Teddy Grahams
• Dr. Pepper ‘Be a Pepper’
• Seagram’s Wine Coolers with Bruce Willis
• Snoopy For MetLife