From Golden Eggs to Trampled Treasure: the 2019 Cadbury Chocolate Scandal

This chapter outlines what happens when chocolate marketing campaigns are conducted without ethical oversight, specifically regarding the protections to our shared cultural heritage. Cadbury’s ill-conceived 2019 ‘Freddo’s Treasure’ advertising campaign riled the heritage community, the press and the public alike, resulting in a backlash against the company. The discussion will first present the context of the international chocolate industry and its symbolic relationship with treasure. Cadbury’s history of treasure-related scandal is then explained alongside the heritage community’s responses to the incidents. The discussion then moves to a first-person narrative account of the author’s experience of exposing the 2019 Cadbury scandal. This is further contextualised with respect to the heritage sector’s participation in public-facing discourse, both in traditional media venues and through social media. Finally, critical reflections on how the heritage industry can protect its own community against public backlash are presented with reference to the responsibilities and accountability of leadership in the sector. These final provocations demand introspective considerations of how heritage sector leaders can develop structures and policies that benefit the communities of practice in their care.