I’ve read today that Cadbury is launching a chocolate bar aimed at women in an attempt to win back lost sales among the diet-conscious.  Regular readers will know just how much this type of targeted advertising really annoys me – just check out my post on Man Crisps!

The Crispello is the first new chocolate bar launched by the company since the 1990s and will be backed by a £7million advertising campaign.  Apparently annual sales of single chocolate bars have fallen by some 6.6 per cent in a market worth around £800million a year.  Evidence suggests that this slump is almost entirely caused by women buying  less chocolate.

Cadbury, owned by American food company Kraft, believes the Crispello will particularly appeal to women who are worried about putting on weight.  The new bar comes in at 165 calories, compared with 260 for a Mars bar and the Crispello, which is similar in taste and consistency to Ferrero Rocher chocolates, has three chocolate-covered wafer shells with a soft milk chocolate filling.  It is designed with a resealable pack so it can be eaten one piece at a time. [yeah, right!]

The more cynical amongst us might say that perhaps their sales have fallen because since Kraft took them over Cadbury chocolates just don’t taste the same.  If you’ve ever had the misfortune to try Hershey chocolate from the US you’ll know what I mean when I say that the Americans just don’t do chocolate like Cadbury used to!

Instead of these half-hearted attempts to win sales on gender, why not just go back to the old recipes that we know and love?  Just a thought …..