How Cadbury Won Valentine’s Day with Dairy Milk & Five Star 🍫

Valentine’s Day - A Battle for Attention

Every year, brands flood our timelines, inboxes, and storefronts with Valentine’s Day campaigns.

Heart-shaped chocolates, couple discounts, and love-themed marketing dominate the scene.

It’s predictable and often forgettable.

But Cadbury India found a way to break through the clutter - not by choosing a side, but by owning both sides of Valentine’s Day.

Rather than catering only to couples, they spoke to both romantics and cynics alike, turning Valentine’s Day into a masterclass in dual-brand storytelling.

How?

By using two of their most iconic sub-brands - Dairy Milk and Five Star - to target completely opposite audiences.

Let’s break down how they did it.

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Dairy Milk - The Chocolate of Love

For decades, Dairy Milk has positioned itself as the chocolate of sweet moments. It’s the brand you turn to when you want to share a little happiness, and Valentine’s Day is the ultimate playground for this message.

Over the years, Dairy Milk has leaned fully into the romance.

They’ve released limited-edition Valentine’s Day packaging, created campaigns encouraging couples to share a Dairy Milk as a gesture of love, and even launched social media challenges prompting people to declare their love publicly.

One year, they took it a step further with a simple yet powerful billboard campaign that asked:

It was romantic, relatable, and captured the heartwarming spirit of the brand.

But what made this campaign truly brilliant wasn’t the billboard itself - it was what showed up right next to it.

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Five Star — The Chocolate of ‘Doing Nothing’

Not everyone buys into the romance and Cadbury knows it.

That’s where Five Star steps in.

If Dairy Milk is for the lovebirds, Five Star is for the proudly single, the eye-rollers, and everyone who thinks Valentine’s Day is overhyped. Five Star’s brand personality is built on one simple concept - do nothing.

So, when Dairy Milk asked, “How far will you go for love?”, Five Star cheekily answered with their own billboard - placed right next to it.

It simply read:

“Nah, I’m fine here. Eat Five Star and do nothing.”

It was witty. It was perfectly on-brand.

And most importantly, it spoke directly to the other half of the population - the people who would rather skip the flowers, dinners, and romantic fuss altogether.

This wasn’t a one-off stunt either.

Five Star has turned anti-Valentine’s campaigns into a yearly tradition, encouraging people to do absolutely nothing on Valentine’s Day - no gifts, no plans, no pressure.

Just sit back, unwrap a Five Star, and enjoy the silence.

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The Genius of Owning Both Sides

What makes Cadbury’s approach so brilliant is that they didn’t choose between romantic couples and cynical singles.

They targeted both, with two distinct brands and messages that complemented and playfully clashed with each other.

Here’s why this works so well.

1. They Cover Every Emotion

   Whether someone’s celebrating love, recovering from heartbreak, or just indifferent to the whole thing, Cadbury has something to say to them. No customer feels left out.

2. They Create Contrast and Conversation

   When two sub-brands from the same company take opposite stances, it’s fun to watch. It creates natural conversations and social sharing — everyone wants to pick a side.

3. They Double Their Visibility

   Instead of one message competing for attention, Cadbury gets two entirely different campaigns working together to own the entire Valentine’s Day conversation.

4. They Tap Into Cultural Reality

   Not everyone celebrates Valentine’s Day - and some people actively avoid it. By acknowledging both realities, Cadbury feels more authentic, relatable, and in touch with real life.

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The Big Marketing Takeaway

Most brands pick a lane they either lean into romance and grand gestures, or they go for sarcastic, anti-Valentine’s humor.

Cadbury said why not both?

By splitting their messaging across Dairy Milk and Five Star, they didn’t just reach two types of consumers, they made themselves part of the cultural conversation, whether people love Valentine’s Day or hate it.

This is a great reminder for marketers, creators, and entrepreneurs.

Understanding your audience doesn’t mean narrowing your focus.

Sometimes the smartest move is to embrace the full emotional spectrum from hopeless romantics to happy loners.

Because at the end of the day, whether you’re in love, out of love, or over love, there’s one thing everyone can agree on.

🍫 Chocolate always wins.

So, Which Team Are You?

If you had to choose

Are you Team Dairy Milk (Love is Sweet) or Team Five Star (Love is Overrated)?

Hit reply or drop a comment. I’d love to know where you stand.

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If you have any feedback, suggestions, or want to discuss any topic further, please let me know in the comments or email me at gopichandbusam@substack.com