Close
Häagen-Dazs

Together is Better

“Don’t Hold Back” launched in 2020, challenging viewers to break barriers and experience real joy.

Building on our summer launch, we focused on specific holidays in Asia while launching a new chocolate line in 2021.

In Asian countries shaped by traditional values, a taboo exists when expressing emotions. Expressing physical affection, specifically public kissing is frowned upon and restricted on mainstream media including television advertising in many Asian countries - you cannot show a mother kissing her baby, let alone between friends or couples in advertising.

On top of this, as this was the first campaign following the post-COVID situation, distance both physically and emotionally were becoming the norm.

To further the concept of “Don’t Hold Back” or “惯坏自己” and challenge real expression in Asia, we developed the 'chocolate lip’ visual icon to demonstrate the “unseen” kisses in our advertisements. We tied the emotional joy of unhindered celebration with the new product flavors focused on Winter moments of celebration and the emotional togetherness they represent.

From ice cream to challenging the cultural taboos of intimacy in Asian.

We then launched a debate across Chinese social media channels by inviting celebrity commentators to examine the topic whether it’s appropriate for grown children and parents should kiss to express affection.

Campaign summary

Without any media support, the campaign gathered 2M+ impressions across major Chinese social channels including hundreds of user generated comments - including users posting photos and videos kissing.

Attribution

Locations

Capabilities

Play