Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging, design and food launches:
- An iconic Cadbury’s chocolate turns 50
- Coca-Cola bottles up its artistic side
- new reds from Glenelly, and
- a shout out to brands which delivered in the #CapeFires
Out to lunch
The Cadbury Lunch Bar is 50 years old and Cadbury is celebrating that over a hundred million Lunch Bars were sold in 2014 (300 000 a day!).
Launched in 1965 as the “much more munch” bar, since 2008 it has been South Africa’s no. 1-selling chocolate bar, as well as the second-largest chocolate brand after Cadbury Dairy Milk.
There have been some memorable advertising campaigns, most notably the one featuring Makathini [and son — ed-at-large] in various Scottish-themed commercials, which demonstrated the strength and ability that consuming a Lunch Bar would give (as only those of us over the age of 35 years will probably remember).
More recently, the brand was updated with new packaging in 2008 and a new giant Lunch Bar Man Size was launched, as well as the Laduma Lunch Bar for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the limited-edition Lunch Bar Triple Choc in 2013 and the ‘Tumi’ commercial. It also received TGI Icon Brand status in the Chocolate Brand Category in 2014.
“Through these birthday activities we hope to give South Africans the opportunity to celebrate Lunch Bar’s Golden 50th Anniversary with us in a fun and engaging manner,” says Meredith Kelly, Mondelez SA category lead for chocolate.
But is it art?
It most certainly is art, featuring 33 000 artworks by world-famous artists such as Burton Morris, Clive Barker and Norman Rockwell, plus South Africa’s Mbongeni Buthelezi. The collection was started in 1928 after the contour bottle gained recognition as a muse to artists and designers around the world.
The Coca-Cola contour bottle, described by the brand as “an enduring classic icon in the history of packaging design, remains a canvas for innovation today, including the development of the Coca-Cola aluminium contour bottle and varying package sizes”.
This, from the Coke archives, describes how it achieved pop culture icon status: “Throughout history, the Coca-Cola bottle has been dubbed the ‘hobbleskirt bottle’, named for the popular fashion trend during the 1920s, and the ‘Mae West’ bottle after the actress’s famous curves.”
The first contour bottle reference came from French Magazine La Monde in 1925. Andy Warhol is famous for using the Coca-Cola bottle in art (in his 1962 show ‘The Grocery Store’), but the first popular artist to incorporate the Coca-Cola bottle in a painting was Salvatore Dali, in his 1943 work, ‘Poetry in America’.
“The Coca-Cola contour bottle continues to be at the centre of the happiest moments shared by our consumers everywhere in the world today, as it were in 1915 when it was first patented,” comments Sharon Keith, marketing director of Coca-Cola South Africa.
New red vintages
Glenelly has released its new vintage red wines and the three tiers of wines are The Lady May, the estate’s flagship Cabernet named in honour of Glenelly’s Grande Dame; the Grand Vin De Glenelly range which includes a wooded Chardonnay and the signature red blend of the estate; and the Glass Collection single varietal range comprising an Unwooded Chardonnay, a Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The first vines at this Stellenbosch wine estate were planted in 2004 after the estate was purchased and developed by French wine and art connoisseur, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing. It is part of the original Ida’s Valley Farm granted in 1682 by Simon van der Stel to French Huguenot, Franscois Villon. It was then owned by the Garlick family for a century.
De Lencquesaing has continued the three-centuries-old French heritage of winemaking in South Africa, planting 60ha of Glenelly with vines and 5ha with olive trees, as well as overseeing the construction of a 600-ton state-of-the-art cellar and tasting room. Luke O’Cuinneagain is the winemaker.
Glenelly’s wines are fermented naturally, with as “little intervention as possible” and “seek to achieve the perfect balance of French style and South African terrior”.
#Capefires thank you
For those of us caught up in the devastating fires over the past two weeks in the Western Cape, it was an experience like no other: heart-breaking and heart-warming at the same time. What was incredible to witness, personally, was how communities pulled together to support the fire fighters and volunteers, and how brands and big business contributed, too.
While working from the Noordhoek Command Centre staffed by volunteers in the community 24 hours daily, during the worst of the fires, I witnessed truckloads of food, medical supplies, equipment, etc being delivered from big retailers plus local traders and individuals. Putting out a call on social media for chainsaws to cut more firebreaks resulted in one brand, SAB, delivering a truckload of the much-needed machinery, as well as a man pitching up with his chainsaw “because his wife told him it was needed” after also seeing the appeal on Facebook.
So this is a personal shout out to the brands which listened and, with minimal fanfare, delivered. Thank you so very much, you are my heroes, too. I witnessed the positive effect some of those deliveries had, the cheers that went up, the hugs and wonder that everyone was being so generous.
Simply Asia was one of those brands, providing 650 meals for fire fighters (pictured) and raising funds for the fire volunteer relief effort. Through its central kitchen and Lakeside franchise, Simply Asia fed more than 650 fire fighters and volunteers; and staff at their head office, Parklands and Benmore Gardens (Joburg) franchises personally raised more than R5 000 for Primedia’s Fire Radiothon Pledge.
*Consider donating to the Section 21 company, the Volunteer Wildlife Services fire fighting volunteers who support the fire fighters in fighting fires and are often the first responders. They need fuel, vehicles, uniforms and firefighting equipment. These are men and women with day jobs who put their lives on the line.
Shelf Life is a weekly column by Louise Marsland. Tweet new product, packaging and design launches to @louise_marsland 
or email her at louise.marsland at gmail.com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Louise has written about the FMCG, media, marketing and advertising industry for over 20 years as a former editor of magazines AdVantage, Marketing Mix and Progressive Retailing, as well as websites Bizcommunity.com and FMCGFiles. She also edited the weekly Wednesday Media & Marketing Page for The New Age newspaper. She is currently the publishing editor of industry trendwatching portal, TRENDAFRiCA, for consumer insight, research and trends in Africa; a regular industry columnist and speaker; a consultant on content strategy; and contributing editor to Fast Company South Africa magazine, which has just launched in South Africa.
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