Warner Bros. Isn't Selling The Delectable Chocolates From Wonka, And That's Just Stupid
Whenever a big studio movie comes along, it's a foregone conclusion that the road to its theatrical release will feature a variety of cross-promotional tie-ins. Whether it's action figures and Funko POPs, t-shirts and cosmetics, or even specialty menus at chain restaurants, the studio's publicity campaign tries anything and everything to raise awareness and drive people to theaters to see a given movie. Sometimes, a movie is tailor-made for cross-promotional tie-ins.
Take "Wonka," for example, a movie that is packed with delicious chocolates. Even on the film's set, the candy was real and available for the cast and crew to eat. Because of the movie's sweet center, you'd think Warner Bros. would be taking full advantage of the film's primary prop as a way to bring chocolates to the masses, inspired by their appearance in the chocolatier's origin story from "Paddington" director Paul King. But you'd be wrong.
That's right, despite the prominence of chocolates in "Wonka," you won't find any official Wonka chocolates in United States stores tied to the film's release. This feels like one of the biggest missed opportunities in movie marketing, and both Warner Bros. and the candy company that owns the Wonka brand are just leaving money on the table.
The chocolates in Wonka
While the original 1971 film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" features a variety of candies that Wonka makes in his factory, chocolate is synonymous with the candy maker, and the new movie primarily puts the focus on chocolate as his true passion.
One of the key treats featured are the Hoverchocs, egg-shaped chocolates that give whoever eats them the ability to float in the air. Obviously, making chocolates that do that in real life is impossible, but making chocolates under the Hoverchoc name and at least making them look like they do in the movie should have been a no-brainer. In fact, there's an even bigger missed opportunity here, because it looks like Warner Bros. Pictures made one cross-promotional tie-in with the Kinder brand owned by Ferrero.
Overseas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the Kinder brand offers the Kinder Surprise chocolate egg, which contains a toy within. These are actually banned in the United States, because of the perceived choking hazard of having a toy inside a chocolate egg. Right now, there are Wonka-themed Kinder Surprise offerings overseas that include toys tied to the new Wonka movie. However, despite the ease with which they could have been made to look like Hoverchocs, they're just the standard Kinder eggs. What a squandered opportunity!
Look, I know it seems silly to demand corporate synergy between Warner Bros. Pictures and Ferrera Candy Company (which is different from Ferrero), the manufacturer who owns the Wonka brand. But here's the thing: leading up to the release of the movie, Ferrera released Wonka Magic Hat Gummies. While the bags tout the candy company's Wonka logo as opposed to the movie's title design, they do encourage fans to see the new movie, and you can currently find the Wonka Magic Hat Gummies (which are filled with goo that colors your tongue blue) in many of the major theater chains alongside all the usual concessions candy. So if Ferrera had the foresight to release these gummies and promote the movie, then where's the chocolate?
What happened here?
The answer appears to be that Ferrera doesn't own a candy brand that makes chocolates. Instead, brands like Trolli, Brach's, SweetTarts, Black Forest, and Nips focus on fruity candies, gummies, candy corn, mellow cremes, and caramels. In fact, if you look at the roster of Wonka candies from Ferrera, they include things like Nerds, Laffy Taffy, Gobstoppers, and Bottle Caps, but there are no chocolates to be found.
So why didn't Wonka partner with another candy company to make Wonka chocolates and candy bars? Well, since Wonka is a candy brand owned by Ferrera, there's likely an agreement in licensing that makes it so Warner Bros. can't sell new candy with the Wonka branding on it, even though they can sell a bunch of other merchandise with the movie's logo. Warner Bros. partnered with Kinder overseas for a chocolate promotion, but they didn't make new chocolates with the Wonka candy logo, and instead, they're only offering the movie's intellectual property to be packaged with existing chocolates. The fact that the legal teams of both Warner Bros. Pictures and Ferrera Candy Company didn't meet to make some kind of deal to distribute new Wonka chocolates is baffling to me.
How cool would it have been to have a little suitcase, like the one Wonka carries in the movie, which contains a confectionary kit to make (or at least decorate) your own chocolates? You've got people heading into theaters watching a movie that will make them want delicious chocolatey treats, and you're just going to let them get it somewhere else? Get your s**t together, man.
"Wonka" is in theaters everywhere now.