Cadbury is among the most historic brands in the UK. Its chocolate has become part of the fabric of British life, from Easter eggs, Dairy Milks to a flake sticking out of your 99, it has become woven into our memories and seasonal traditions.
My Cadbury Era is a Generative-AI powered experience to celebrate Cadbury’s 200th anniversary and its long-standing relationship with the British public, by placing the people in their own version of a vintage Cadbury poster.
To capitalise on this exciting milestone, we had the opportunity to push the boundaries of what has been done before and use AI to get fans of the brand, young and old, involved in a way that was never possible before.
Users uploaded a selfie and selected their ‘Era’ from one of seven classic Cadbury ads, along with options for how they wanted to be represented, and the tool then re-created the poster featuring their likeness. In keeping with Cadbury’s brand positioning of generosity, participants could see themselves in 1 of 7 iconic styles from Cadbury’s history and also automatically entered into a prize draw to win £200.
Occasionally there is a moment in time you get to take on a project so exciting and groundbreaking you can’t quite believe the client has gone for it. A project that allows you to take some risks and flex all your experience muscles. The creation of the My Cadbury Era tool pushed our collective experience both in technology and inclusive design to new levels.
The north star behind “My Cadbury Era” was to embrace Cadbury’s legacy of generosity and let people become a part of Cadbury’s 200-year story. Rather than simply showcasing a retrospective of classic advertising, the campaign invited the public to co-create and reimagine the brand’s heritage by placing themselves within vintage Cadbury posters using Gen-AI technology.
Achieving this required both creative ambition and robust technical execution. From the outset, we formed a specialised, cross-functional team that included technologists, designers, but also DE&I consultants, and legal experts. These stakeholders established four core workstreams: user flow, AI model training, compliance/ethics, and classic visual style integration. We prioritised usability and inclusivity by opting for a simple, selfie-based upload process. Meanwhile, the legal and DE&I experts guided us in crafting an experience that was safe, respectful, and accessible for everyone.
Central to the experience was our custom-built selfie capture tool, which used prompts and guidelines (such as appropriate head positioning, adequate lighting, and clear facial visibility) to ensure quality inputs. Once the user uploaded their image, they chose one of seven iconic Cadbury ads, each representing a distinct era in the brand’s advertising history.
To combat biases often inherent in generative AI, we incorporated user-defined preferences for skin tone, gender expression, and stylistic nuances, effectively giving participants control over how they wished to be portrayed. Our thoroughly trained AI model then mapped the selfie’s features onto each chosen ad, preserving historical aesthetics while updating them for a modern audience.
Behind the scenes, we implemented two layers of moderation. First, automated filters flagged inappropriate or poor-quality inputs. Second, a dedicated team manually reviewed any questionable outputs, ensuring that all results met Cadbury’s brand standards and adhered to ethical guidelines.
One of the biggest hurdles was AI bias, particularly in depicting diverse skin tones, hairstyles, and facial features. We tackled this by training our model on a more inclusive dataset, supplemented with real-world user testing. This iterative approach let us quickly identify inaccuracies or biases and refine the model accordingly.
We also had to contend with “AI hallucinations,” where the algorithm sometimes generated extra limbs or surreal facial features. Regular prompt adjustments, combined with human oversight, proved essential to refining these outputs. Finally, there was a complex legal landscape regarding user data privacy and image rights. To address this, we implemented transparent consent flows, SMS authentication, and strict data storage protocols that respected user confidentiality.
“My Cadbury Era” stands out because it marries a nostalgic celebration of a 200-year-old brand with cutting-edge AI—a balance of tradition and innovation that few campaigns achieve. Rather than deploying AI as a mere novelty, we infused it with inclusive design principles, making the experience more personal, accessible, and meaningful. This fusion of historical reverence, user empowerment, and responsible technology sets a new benchmark for brand-driven creative work in the AI era.
“My Cadbury Era” was a success and generated a massive wave of public engagement and enthusiasm across Britain - capturing peoples imaginations with the seamless blending of nostalgic Cadbury history with cutting-edge Gen-AI. Throughout the campaign, over 77,000 users uploaded selfies, each spending on average two minutes 25 seconds in the experience.
Crucially, beyond the numbers, “My Cadbury Era” elevated Cadbury’s standing as a leader in responsible AI innovation. Mondelez International recognised the project as a model for future AI-powered campaigns across its global portfolio, citing the campaign’s inclusive design and thorough moderation strategy as key differentiators.
While this was not a sales-led initiative, the goodwill and brand equity it cultivated helped reinforce Cadbury’s position as a culturally relevant and inclusive British icon.
The successful collaboration between designers, technologists, DE&I specialists, and legal teams and robots underscored the viability of human-AI co-creation at scale. “My Cadbury Era” not only proved that AI can be harnessed to create fun, inclusive user experiences, but also set a new standard for ensuring generative technology aligns with the spirit and values of a beloved, heritage-rich brand.
