Cadbury has this week launched a tongue-in-cheek ‘un-advertising’ campaign to promote the launch of its new Limited Edition Twirl Mint bar.

The cheeky campaign uses so-called ‘worst practice’ advertising to poke fun at the exclusivity of limited-edition bars, tapping into reverse psychology to warn off the public from trying it.

Developed by creative agency VCCP, the campaign will look to build on the success of previous limited-edition outings Twirl Caramel and Twirl Orange, which was successful that it became a permanent part of the Twirl range.

VCCP’s suite of assets humorously aims to manage demand, discouraging the general public so that ‘true’ mint-chocolate lovers will be able to get their hands on one of the new bars.

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“We are excited to give consumers the chance to get their hands on the limited Twirl Mint chocolate bar. Although mint and chocolate can divide opinions, we believe mint chocolate fans will love this so much that we want them to know they need to act quickly to get their hands on one,” Cadbury Twirl brand manager, Frederike Grohmann said.

Spearheaded by out-of-home and social media activity as well as a dedicated microsite, the campaign will also include influencer partnerships – in which content creators will discourage their followers from trying it.

VCCP creatives Tom Lee and Vicky David added: “Twirl Mint’s going to be very popular, but it’s limited edition – there’s not going to be enough for everyone. So we did a ‘worst-practice’ advertising campaign to un-advertise Twirl Mint, doing everything in our power to stop it from becoming too popular.”