They broke every marketing rule (and made millions)

How Tony’s Chocolonely Rewrote the Rules of Chocolate by Calling the Cops on Themselves 

As Marketers, we love our buzzwords.

ROAS, CAC, LTV, all that jazz 🎷.

But a brand’s true impact isn’t found in a dashboard full of acronyms.

It’s found in the way it makes people feel and what they do for the world. 

It’s not enough to sell a good product at a fair price. 

Brands that stand for something bigger (and REALLY mean it) are the ones that leave a lasting mark.

That’s why Tony’s Chocolonely didn’t just enter the chocolate market.

It rewrote the rules.

While legacy brands hid behind complex supply chains and vague commitments, Tony’s put injustice front and center.

And that’s something worth paying attention to.

This is…Tony’s Chocolonely.

The year is 2001, and the biggest event since the invention of the Hershey’s Kiss is about to take place.

Big Chocolate is under pressure. Reports are surfacing about forced child labor in the cocoa industry, exposing the bitter truth behind the world’s favorite sweet, little treat.

In response, U.S. lawmakers (with help from chocolate trade groups) introduce the Harkin-Engel Protocol, an international agreement designed to end the worst forms of child labor in chocolate production. 

The industry’s biggest players like Nestlé, Mars, Hershey, and others sign on, promising rapid, sweeping change.

And, everyone rode off into the sunset.

Just smile and wave, smile and wave… (via Paris Carey)

Except… they didn’t.

The promises were made, the headlines were written, but behind closed doors, little changed. 

Deadlines were missed. Goals were quietly pushed back. The same companies that vowed to fix the problem kept profiting from a broken system.

Years passed, and the injustice continued.

The whole bill was just a PR move. 

But, one journalist had had ENOUGH.Meet Teun van de Keuken, a journalist from the Netherlands. 

Teun worked on a TV show named Keuringsdienst van Waarde (KVW) or, in English, Inspection Service of Value (I guess the copywriter had the day off). 

This show isn’t your typical news broadcast. It’s an investigative deep dive into the products we use every day. 

The show follows a simple format: A journalist will call companies and grill them with questions about their products to really reveal what they’re made of. 

Basically, if How It’s Made and 60 Minutes had a baby, it would be KVW.

We need this in the States ASAP. (via KRO NCRV)

So, in 2003, when Teun discovered that slave labor was still rampant in the chocolate industry, he decided it was time to take on Big Chocolate.

Teun ran a segment on KVW and reached out to all the major companies.

Most of them refused to answer his questions. 

Others sent lawyers to block him from getting in touch.

Teun was frustrated, but instead of letting it make him angry, he got EVEN.

He set out to prove that using unethical labor in chocolate production wasn’t just a hidden issue. It was a crime that couldn’t be ignored.

He started by launching a personal stunt: eating chocolate bars that he suspected were made with child labor and calling the police and asking to turn himself in as a chocolate criminal.

PUT IT IN PRACTICE Marketing that blends in gets ignored. Marketing that shakes things up gets remembered. Tony’s Chocolonely didn’t wait for a viral moment, they CREATED one. Instead of playing it safe, they staged a stunt that forced an industry-wide conversation. Now, it’s your turn. What’s the boldest, most unignorable move your brand could make? Think bigger. Then go even further. Whether it’s a campaign, a product launch, or a moment of brand activism, make sure it doesn’t just get seen, it gets FELT. Because if your brand’s mission truly matters, people should have no choice but to talk about it. HERE’S YOUR HOMEWORK: Spend 15 minutes brainstorming the most outrageous stunt your brand could pull. I’m talking truly wild ideas that make you a little nervous just writing them down. Then pick the one that connects most directly to your mission and start planning how to make it happen. Not sure where to start? Ask yourself:         • What industry norm could we completely shatter?         • What would make our competitors uncomfortable?         • What would be impossible for media to ignore? Remember, Tony’s entire brand started with a journalist eating chocolate and calling the cops on himself. Your move doesn’t need a big budget, it just needs big guts.

The case didn’t make it to court, as they couldn’t prove with 100% certainty that the bars were made with child labor. Teun found that interesting.

If he couldn’t prove that chocolate was made WITH child labor, could he prove that it was made WITHOUT?

Teun decided to take a different approach. If proving the absence of child labor in a single chocolate bar was the key, then he would show the world what transparency REALLY looked like.

He and the KVW team got to work. 

They created 5,000 chocolate bars that were Fairtrade-certified and fully traceable from bean to bar. 

These bars were dubbed Tony’s Chocolonely, the English translation of Teun’s name and a nod to his own lonely fight against the chocolate industry’s dark side.

What started as a one-off project soon turned into something much bigger. The demand for chocolate made differently was overwhelming. 

Tony’s Chocolonely was born, and it was clear that this was just the beginning.

Doing the right thing WITH swagger. (via Tony’s Chocolonely)

Now, if you’ve ever eaten experienced a Tony’s you’ll know that it’s not like other chocolate. 

It comes in a bright red wrapper (well, depending on the flavor) with a whole bunch of writing on the inside, and the bar itself is jagged, unlike the neat, uniform blocks you’d find in a Hershey’s.

Which would you rather have? There’s a right answer. (via Tony’s Chocolonely and Hershey’s)

 This isn’t the work of some trendy branding agency.

It’s a deliberate design choice, a constant reminder of the brand’s mission to challenge the inequities in the chocolate industry.

As Tony’s put it “It doesn’t make sense for chocolate bars to be divided into equal-sized chunks when there is so much inequality in the chocolate industry!”

This is how you do mission-driven Marketing correctly.

You don’t let the mission be a side note or an afterthought. You make it the heart of everything you do. Tony’s mission isn’t just tucked away on a website or mentioned in passing but instead, it’s integrated into every piece of their product. 

From the jagged chunks of their bars to the bold messaging on the wrapper, the mission is always front and center. 

This is branding with purpose, and it’s what makes Tony’s Chocolonely a stand-out example of what it looks like when a brand takes its mission seriously.

And I bet the next time you reach for a chocolate bar, you’ll think twice before picking up the other guys. 

After all, choosing Tony’s isn’t just about satisfying your sweet tooth.

It’s about making a choice that aligns with a bigger purpose.

Marketing Cheat Sheet (WHAT TO LEARN FROM THIS GUIDE):

1️⃣. Don’t Just Market, Take a Stand (And Make It Impossible to Ignore):

Tony’s didn’t settle for some boring PR campaign about ethical sourcing. They forced the conversation by literally CALLING THE COPS ON THEMSELVES.

Those jagged chocolate pieces? That’s inequality staring you in the face with every bite.

If your brand stands for something, don’t just put it in your email signature. Bake it into your product design, your packaging, your entire customer experience.

The brands crushing it in 2025 aren’t just selling products, they’re leading movements that make competitors uncomfortable.

2️⃣. Stunts > Static Ads (If You Want to Break Through):

Teun didn’t just talk about unethical chocolate, he TURNED HIMSELF IN to prove a point. That stunt didn’t just make headlines, it made history.

Most brands are still playing it safe with the same boring content everyone scrolls past. Meanwhile, the ones dominating culture are taking calculated, high impact risks.

Safe marketing is invisible. Full stop.

Stunts, bold campaigns, and moments that challenge the status quo? That’s what gets people talking (and buying).

The question isn’t “Should we do this?” but “How can we make this even WILDER?”

3️⃣. Every Touchpoint is a Billboard for Your Mission:

Tony’s mission isn’t tucked away in some “About Us” page nobody reads, it’s screaming at you from every inch of the brand.

The uneven chocolate bar? Inequality.

The wrapper? Ethical manifesto.

Their bold storytelling? A rallying cry for change.

Your mission shouldn’t be a side note, it should be the HEADLINE.

The best brands don’t just tell you what they stand for, they make sure you feel it with every interaction.

IN A MEME