KitKat Could Create a New Middle Chocolate Market?

Anyone see the new KitKat 'little breaks' ads? Me either? Brilliant campaign. Not great placement. Well done VML UK.

"Most outdoor work is fighting to be the loudest thing on the street. We wanted this campaign to do the opposite - to reward a moment of pause. At first glance, the posters look disarmingly simple, but take a closer look and they reveal charming little illustrations that bring the brand and the break closer than ever."

Christopher Joyce

Creative Director, VML UK

Enough about them. Back to me and KitKat.

Over the years, I quietly moved away from mass-market candy bars. Snickers. Three Musketeers. Somewhere along the way, finer chocolate became much more accessible, and I simply forgot about KitKat.

I shouldn’t have.

I don’t even eat them the way they’re supposed to be eaten. I slowly suck the milk chocolate off each finger before crunching into the wafer inside. The chocolate is smooth and lovely, and the whole process takes a while. Whether I realized it or not, eating a KitKat has always been a pause.

Which is why I think this advertising campaign is brilliant.

Replacing a dash with a KitKat bar isn’t really about the candy. It’s about the pause. In a world where every brand is screaming for our attention, KitKat quietly reminds us to stop. Even the design of the campaign feels upscale. It’s restrained, elegant, and confident. It doesn’t chase attention. It earns it.

My only disappointment is that I never saw it.

I travel constantly, and if there was ever a campaign that deserved to be discovered in beautiful, unexpected places, this was it. Luxury hotels. Airport lounges. Boutique coffee shops. Museum cafés. High-end bookstores. Places where people notice thoughtful design and appreciate small moments of pleasure.

Then I started thinking about the brand itself.

What if KitKat stopped trying to be just another candy bar?

And, stop producing endless varieties. I tried the white chocolate version. Seriously? Every new flavor seems to pull attention away from what makes the original so good. Other brands are doing that, and I think it is a mistake. 

Sometimes more is just more, not better.

And the endless varieties of Oreo? Mistake, big mistake. Maybe not right away, but trust me. In the long haul, it won’t do anything other than dilute your brand.

We don’t want so many choices in our lives anymore. We already have too many.

The original doesn’t need improving. Smooth milk chocolate. Crisp wafer. A simple ritual.

I’d keep the iconic red wrapper but make it feel more refined. Better paper. Better typography. More restraint. Make opening a KitKat feel just a little more intentional and less low brow.

Then I’d raise the price. Not enough to compete with premium artisan chocolate, but enough to move it out of the commodity candy category. Let it live in the space between a Snickers bar and fine chocolate.

That’s the opportunity.

Most companies spend their lives fighting for market share in crowded categories. I wouldn’t.

I’d create a category of one.

KitKat doesn’t have to win the candy bar war. It can own the space in between. The blue ocean where no one else is fishing.

The advertising already feels like it belongs there.

Now the brand should, too.