Nestlé plans ‘Blokie bar’ for Yorkie

Nestlé Rowntree is launching a Blokie bar as an extension of its “Not for Girls” campaign for Yorkie. It will be launched in stores imminently as a limited edition.

The renaming will cover the brand’s standard chocolate bar but it is not known if Nestlé plans to repeat the renaming on a rolling-basis. The company launched a limited edition pink bar in time for Valentine’s Day this year.

The Not for Girls campaign, created by J Walter Thompson and launched in 2001, is part of a repositioning of Yorkie as a male chocolate brand. The &£3.5m tongue-in-cheek campaign claims that girls cannot handle the Yorkie bar. It was extended earlier this year with a poster campaign using straplines such as “Do not feed the birds”.

The campaign has proven to be highly successful for the Yorkie brand. According to Nielsen data from earlier this year, sales of the brand increased by 28.7 per cent for the 52 weeks to February (MW April 10). Industry insiders attributed the increase to the advertising, which has struck a chord with men and women.

The Advertising Standards Authority rejected complaints against the poster campaign that suggested the ads were offensive and reinforced sexist attitudes towards women. The ASA ruled that the complaints were not justified (MW May 8).