Angus Vine, creative director at VCCP London added: “Cadbury Secret Santa is a real Christmassy magical labour of love so we’re all buzzing that people can now access it from anywhere in the country. Walking to the shops, standing at a bus stop, wherever you see one of our posters you can get inside the postal service and send someone some secret free chocolate. Merrrrrry Christmas!“ Beyond there being a limited number of bars available, and only 200 posters going up, there is no catch – you don't have to buy anything to take part, nor pay any contribution towards postage. To send a bar, chocolate fans will need to keep an eye out for one of the posters, which will be popping up across the country in over 200 locations from November 14 until December 24. Those who scan a QR code will be taken through to an interactive digital experience, where they will be guided through the service by Jeff, the Cadbury postie, who will help them select a bar for their chosen recipient. In an effort to make this Christmas memorable for everyone, Cadbury is once again teaming up with The Trussell Trust. Over the course of the season, they will give 75,000 chocolate bars to over 200 food banks within the Trussell Trust network. A selection of Cadbury chocolate bars will be available to gift. These include Winter Wonderland, Oreo, Caramel, Wholenut, Fruit & Nut, Mini Snowballs, and Vegan Plant bar, in addition to Cadbury Dairy Milk. Cadbury postie Jeff (Photo by Ray Burmiston)

Posters detailing how to claim the bars are being put up around the country between 6 November-24 December, and will have a QR code on that you will need to scan. Cadbury is making Secret Santa more inclusive and accessible than ever, allowing 120,000 people nationwide to send chocolate secretly, replacing its physical pop ups with a virtual postal service, accessed via posters across the country. Cadbury says it is running the Secret Santa scheme because it knows the cost of living crisis means people are watching their pennies over Christmas, but will want to be able to treat and surprise their loved ones. Angus Vine, Creative Director at VCCP London added: “Cadbury Secret Santa is a real Christmassy magical labour of love so we’re all buzzing that people can now access it from anywhere in the country. Walking to the shops, standing at a bus stop, wherever you see one of our posters you can get inside the postal service and send someone some secret free chocolate. Merrrrrry Christmas!“Cadbury is also partnering with The Trussell Trust for the third year running this Christmas to help make Christmas special for everyone. Across the season they will be donating 100,000 treats to over 200 food banks in the Trussell Trust network. The brand will also be making a financial donation to support the Trust’s longer-term mission of fighting hunger in the UK. Bars will be released every day to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to become a Secret Santa. The Promoter seeks to run a fair and secure process and prevent abuse and cheating. If a participant enters in a way that is not consistent with these Terms & Conditions, the Participant’s entry or entries (and any of their associated aliases) during the Postal Service Period or in the Prize Draw will be disqualified, any participation in the Postal Service or Prize Draw awarded may be void and recoverable, and we reserve the right to bar the Participant from entering any of our future promotional activities for a period of at least six months. For this reason, we reserve the right at any point to: The Promoter reserves the right (subject to any written directions given under applicable law) to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process and to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Postal Service and/or Prize Draw. Jeff will lead those who scan a QR code from the poster, through the interactive digital experience and assist them in choosing the right bar for their intended receiver.

If any provisions of these Terms & Conditions are judged to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, this will not affect or impact the continuation in full force and affect the remainder of the provisions. At the heart of the integrated campaign, developed in partnership with agency of record, VCCP London and production partners Bernadette and Girl&Bear, lies hundreds of digital 6-sheet, static and flyposters that will be popping up across the UK on bus stops to train stations and from quaint little towns to big cities. The posters will invite members of the public to send chocolate secretly to someone special, for free, simply by scanning a QR code. Each digital poster will also feature a charming Cadbury Secret Santa postie who will hold up a range of welcoming signs from his Cadbury post room and explain what the ‘Secret Santa Postal Service’ is and how the nation can take part in the generous ritual. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Promoter and its associated agencies and companies are not liable for any loss (including, without limitation, indirect, special or consequential loss or loss of profits), damage, liabilities, costs, expenses or claims, which is suffered or sustained (whether or not arising from any person’s negligence) in connection with the Postal Service or Prize Draw or accepting or use of the Participating Product or Prize (for the avoidance of doubt this includes but is not limited to damage such as melted, empty or broken products), except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law. Nothing will exclude the Promoter's liability for death or personal injury as a result of its negligence. The campaign started on 6 November and will run through until Christmas eve, so you have just over a month to get out and about searching for the posters. The postal service is also unveiled alongside the brand’s Christmas advert, which stars the cheeky Cadbury Secret Santa postie Jeff. In the film, the generous character showcases how, through the pop-up posters, viewers can spread joy and generosity by sending an anonymous bar of Cadbury chocolate to a loved one for free.The overall approach in terms of look and feel, tone of voice and product story work together to reinforce the idea of the brand as natural, authentic and high quality; with the Glass and a Half logo now drawn to explicitly link with a chocolate chunk to emphasise the relationship between the ingredients and the final product's 'classic creamy taste'. g) Moderation: All Participants who are unsuccessful during the Postal Service Period have an opportunity to enter the Prize Draw but if they are subsequently found to be successful during the Postal Service Period on a separate occasion, the Promoter will remove the Participant’s entry in the Prize Draw. You can choose from the following Cadbury 100-120g chocolate bars: Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Wonderland, Cadbury Dairy Milk (original), Cadbury Dairy Milk Oreo, Cadbury Dairy Milk Whole nut, Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut, CDM Mini Snowballs and Cadbury Dairy Milk Plant Bar All you need to do is keep your eyes peeled for the promotional posters, (there will be both static and digital versions) when you are out and about. You’ll get all the exclusive updates on Star Freebies first. – On this post and via our Telegram and WhatsApp channels – ( you’ll need to tap the 🔔 to enable notifications after Following the WhatsApp channel). If you haven’t joined them yet, make sure you do as the free Cadbury bars don’t hang around for long!

In the event of a discrepancy between these Terms & Conditions and the details in any promotional material, the details in the Terms & Conditions will prevail. Each day of the campaign additional bars will be released to give as many people as possible the chance of sending a bar of chocolate in secret to someone special.Look out for another poster to scan to see if we have more chocolate you can send in secret. In the meantime, why not enter our prize draw to win a bar to send to someone special?"

The Cadbury Secret Santa postal service will run from today for six weeks until Christmas Eve across UK TV, VOD, Cinema, OOH, DOOH, Social, Print, Radio and Digital. The posters and wider campaign media were planned and booked by Carat. A consumer PR campaign will also support the campaign run by Ogilvy PR.

How long is the promotion on for?

d) Winner Selection: 5 provisional winners will be randomly selected using a computerised random selector generator from 4th January 2024 from all valid entries received during the Postal Service Period. In a pledge to make the Postal Service more magical and accessible this year than ever before, Bernadette, the product and services innovation company from VCCP, have supercharged the activation enabling a digital experience once the QR code has been scanned to give customers a more personable and interactive experience with the Cadbury postie, Jeff. Similarly across static posters and flyposters, the poster will come to life with a bit of extra magic using augmented reality. Alongside the poster activation, Cadbury has created a 30-second film which heroes the Cadbury postie and the act of sending chocolate secretly. The film welcomes viewers into the festive Cadbury post room, where Cadbury fans are introduced to the possibility of sending an anonymous bar of chocolate for free through dedicated posters. The creative showcases a range of poster locations; from station platforms to the seaside, and calls on the nation to think of someone special who might need a little lift this Christmas with this simple gesture of secret giving.