Milk Chocolate Monkeys

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Flipping through the pages of Martha Stewart’s Living, a print advertisement caught my eye. Endangered Species. What comes to mind? Forest Frogs, Western Gray Whales, Grevy’s Zebras, Tazmanian Devils, and Purple Marsh Crabs. But this creative little title has proven me wrong … a chocolate brand. I don’t know about you, but I generally like to know what I’m getting myself into when it comes to my chocolate, and this threw me for quite the loop. Endangered Species Chocolate brand has admirably introduced a great intention of cause-related marketed; incorporating people’s love for chocolate while simultaneously saving endangered wildlife. Sadly, by naming the product after the cause it may lose some of its potential customers by misleading them. Speaking as a true chocolate connoisseur, I can tell you that as I pan down the aisle of my local grocery store to find the perfect fix for my sweet tooth, the arbitrarily named Endangered Species Chocolate would most likely be disregarded. On the other hand, the chocolate brand could gain popularity simply by being out of the ordinary, catching the wandering eyes of consumers and drawing curious attention. Unfortunately, many shoppers do not have the time to peruse the aisles and investigate arbitrarily named products to discover their true contents: chocolate.

Endangered Species Chocolate promises that “10% of net profits [are] donated to help support species, habitat and humanity.” This effort of “Gourmet chocolate that gives back” is the perfect way to justify the chocoholic tendencies of consumers by donating portions of the sales to saving endangered wildlife. I think the product would fare much better on the shelves if the arbitrarily named product was restructured to portray its actual contents of chocolate.

The clever tagline reads “Savor chocolate. Save our planet.” Ok, you don’t have to ask me twice.

Have any name change suggestions for Endangered Species Chocolate that would entice you to indulge in a sweet treat for the love of Forest Frogs?

Contributed by Carrie Friedrich