Cadbury has launched the second phase in its "Donate your words" campaign, recruiting Sue Perkins to spend 30 hours in isolation and creating two TV ads based on her ordeal.
A partnership between Cadbury, Sky Media – where the ads will be aired – and Age UK, the work aims to highlight the plight of lonely elderly people.
During her incarceration, Perkins was cut off from the outside world. She had no access to a phone or the internet and was only allowed minimal reading material. Perkins said the experience left her "saddened and shocked", but appreciated that it was not comparable to how an older person suffering from loneliness might feel in reality.
Perkins' time in the house came to an end with a knock on the door from 89-year-old Theresa. She explained to Perkins that her own life used to be like that every day until she joined her local Age UK befriending service.
The 30 hours were filmed and will be shown in two TV ads from today (7 October), running for two weeks, including a 100-second and 60-second version. The concept was developed by Cadbury, Age UK, Sky, The Story Lab and Carat. The campaign was created by Sky's in-house creative shop Diagonal View, while media was through The Story Lab.
Claudia Miceli, senior brand manager at Cadbury, said: "This is a really powerful phase in our campaign to help tackle loneliness together with Age UK. Seeing the effects of just 30 hours of isolation on Sue really strikes a chord with us and we’re hoping that we can work together to combat the issue of loneliness."
"Donate your words" kicked off last month and was built on research that found 225,000 older people across the UK often go a whole week without speaking to anyone. The confectionery brand removed the words "Dairy Milk" from its packaging and pledged to donate 30p to Age UK for every limited-edition bar sold.
It is led by a film, "Fence", created by VCCP, that kicked off on 9 September. It depicts an older man living on his own, who is forced to continually return toys that have been flung over his hedge by a group of boys next door. At the end, the children give the man a gift of Dairy Milk.
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