Posted Monday 4th March 2024
The recent Mondelez and Tony’s Chocolonely case highlights the importance of brands staying true to its values and missions and is an important lesson on how to promote those values in the face of apparent adversity.
The use of purple wrappers by Tony’s, to highlight child labour issues in the cocoa supply chain, caused Mondelez to spring into action alleging Trade Mark infringement of their Trade Mark for their Milka lilac colour.
Cleverly, Tony’s seized on the opportunity to re-focus the issue and highlight its anti-slavery campaign in its reaction statement “ Most big chocolate companies don’t pay a living income price for all their cocoa, resulting in exploitation on cocoa farms, with 1.56 million children involved in child labour in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.” Tony’s has since unveiled a new grey colour to replace the purple, which appears to be a side issue to the central and well heard messaging around anti-slavery from Tony’s.
This is an excellent example of the importance of brand values and missions, staying true to those and using opportunities negative or positive to get those values and missions heard.
This article is for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking or deciding not to take any action.
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