M+C Saatchi Group UK and Climate Basecamp have released an Easter egg. But it’s not all about choccy indulgence. The egg tastes of petrol. It’s fully edible but deliberately unpleasant. It’s designed to bring the impact of climate change closer to home.
The egg, that reimagines one of Easter’s traditional products, is part of Climate Basecamp’s broader Save the Flavors narrative, that was piloted in the US by Climate Basecamp in 2023, highlighting how the foods and tastes people enjoy today are at risk as climate conditions continue to change.
The campaign, The Taste of Climate Change, is designed to raise awareness among the “moveable middle” – people who are aware of climate change but not actively engaged with it – using a tone that is accessible and engaging rather than alarmist. It aims to spark curiosity and conversation, encouraging audiences to reconsider the everyday impact of climate change and prompting light-touch actions such as sharing content and discussing the issue.
The push is inspired by the insight that many people have noticed changes in chocolate, from rising prices to shifts in size and taste, but few connect this to the impact of climate change on cocoa production. The chocolate Easter egg represents the factors damaging cocoa production and the climate more widely. It tells its audience that if we don’t act collectively on climate change, there will be changes in life that people don’t want
The idea uses humour and contrast to deliver its message, subverting expectations by turning something typically associated with enjoyment into an uncomfortable experience. Influencers and media are invited to taste the chocolate on camera, showing real-time reactions and discovering for themselves how climate change is driving chocolate’s current decline.
The campaign is running in the UK across influencer activity and earned media, with content captured and shared over the Easter period.
Gail Whiteman, Hoffmann Impact professor for accelerating action on nature & climate at the University of Exeter, statedm “This campaign is about making climate change feel real in a way that connects with everyday life. By focusing on something as familiar as chocolate, we can show how these changes are already happening around us and encourage people to engage with the issue in a different way.”
Rainn Wilson, American actor (The Office), comedian, writer, director, businessman and producer who also co-founded, Climate Basecamp, added, “I’ve eaten a lot of strange things in my life, but petrol-flavoured chocolate is a new low. Sadly, the idea behind it isn’t a joke. If we keep pushing the planet the way we are, the real future of chocolate could be a lot less sweet.”
Guy Bradbury, creative partner at M+C Saatchi Group UK, concluded, “This is Cultural Power in action – taking a big, complex issue and making it something people can actually feel and react to and, in this case, taste. Using an Easter egg lets us land the point in a way that’s simple, immediate and a bit unexpected. It’s the kind of idea that meets people where they are, rather than asking them to come to us.”
Credits:
Creative Agency: M+C Saatchi Group UK
Creative Partner: Guy Bradbury
Creative Directors: Richard Morgan, Ben Gough
Senior Account Director: Tia Kulkarni
Head of Strategy: Sophie Lean
Senior Strategist: Strategy: Maddie Burnell
Managing Director, Global & Social Issues: Katie Gilber
Chocolatier: Vicki Marsh @ Prescott Chocolates
Photographer: Joe Giacomet
Producers: Matt O’Neill, Alice Konstam
PR Business Director: Leon Emirali
PR Account Manager: Marta Tomé Maldonado
Client: Climate Basecamp
Founding Directors: Rainn Wilson, Prof. Gail Whiteman, Steve Walls, Chuck Tatham
Nature and Climate Impact Team:
Hoffmann Impact Professor for Accelerating Action on Nature & Climate at the University of Exeter: Professor Gail Whiteman
Fellows, Nature and Climate Impact Team: Michelle Roopnarine, Edward Price, Cora Taylor
