Ferrero Rocher, small golden chocolates, became an almost indispensable presence in Portuguese homes during Christmas. Whether to decorate tables or as a gift, these chocolates are now a symbol of this time of year. Although they are available in almost 150 countries, Portugal stands out as the market where the per capita consumption of Ferrero Rocher is the highest in the world, as revealed by Franco Martino, director of communications at the Ferrero Group, in an interview with .
Introduced into the Portuguese market in the early 1990s, Ferrero Rocher quickly won over consumers. In addition to the appealing look and taste, emotional connection has played an important role in its success. Who doesn’t remember the famous ad featuring the butler Ambrósio and the elegant Lady, which has been airing since 1995? Despite the time that has passed, this advertisement continues to be broadcast on Portuguese television, which is unique in relation to the brand’s other markets. Consumer resistance to changing this ad was so great that there were even threats when they tried to change it.
Franco Martino explained that, at the time of launch in Portugal, the chocolate consumption culture was more developed than in other Mediterranean countries, which facilitated acceptance of the product. “The Ferrero Rocher is no longer a Ferrero asset in Portugal. It is a heritage of the Brazilian people”, said the communications director.
Martino also told the same source, cited by , that, when he started working with the brand in 1997, he noticed a crow in the famous advertisement. The Lady’s character said she wanted to “have something”, when the correct thing would be “to drink something”. The correction was requested, but the Portuguese public, already accustomed to the original version, reacted strongly. “We received more than 600 letters and I don’t know how many phone calls asking for the ‘take’ back”, reported Martino. Therefore, the word “take” was kept, “by popular petition”.
The communications director concludes that the Portuguese do not want to see the advertisement disappear, even as the years pass. “Ambrósio and the Lady are already part of the iconography of communication in Portugal”, he guarantees. This is, perhaps, the oldest advertisement in the brand’s history, and no one could have imagined that, in 2024, it would still be broadcast. But, to everyone’s surprise, this is the reality.
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