This is one of a large collection of films made by Rowntree’s of York (now Nestlé).  Most of the films came via the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, based at the University of York.  Other films have come from different sources, such as Ken Clough, a former engineering designer for Rowntree who filmed many of their manufacturing processes.  The vast bulk of the films are adverts for their confectionary products: including Rolo, Black Magic, Toffee Crisp, Smarties, Milky Bar,...

This is one of a large collection of films made by Rowntree’s of York (now Nestlé).  Most of the films came via the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, based at the University of York.  Other films have come from different sources, such as Ken Clough, a former engineering designer for Rowntree who filmed many of their manufacturing processes.  The vast bulk of the films are adverts for their confectionary products: including Rolo, Black Magic, Toffee Crisp, Smarties, Milky Bar, KitKat, Dairy Box and many other brands made between 1929 and 1990.  The earliest one of the adverts is Mr York of York, Yorks, the first animated advertisement to be made, in 1929, with synchronised sound - also online.  For an overview of Rowntree's, chocolate and advertising see the Contexts for Mr York of York, Yorks and Tokens (1962-63).  For an overview of the Rowntree’s business see After Eight Adverts (1962).

Although many of the more recent KitKat adverts can be found online easy enough, those dating from the 1950s and 60s are much rarer to find, and so it is interesting to compare the older ads with those of today.  And, rather like looking at an old TV series, they also give a glimpse into a whole different social ethos.  This makes them look dated compared to the more knowing ads of today, but the deeper structure of the adverts has changed little.  Whereas here we see an explicit use of an appeal to many different sections of society, by invoking ordinary people in ordinary jobs, the modern equivalent does much the same; only more surreptitiously with much quicker shots. 

The chocolate snack bar KitKat has become almost synonymous with Rowntree. (Note that there seems to be no convention on the spelling: even Nestlé spell it both with and without a gap).  It is the favourite chocolate bar in the UK, with 47 eaten per second, accounting for 23% of Nestlé confectionary sales here. Sales of the classic brand are also enormous worldwide: 17.6 billion fingers sold every year, in 72 countries, adding up to 87,150 miles of KitKat.   Apparently the York factory uses 82 million litres of milk a year. 

It all began back in the 1920s when Rowntree's launched a brand of boxed chocolates named Kit Cat.  In fact the brand names Kit Cat and Kit Kat were registered as early as 1911.  The name derives from the name of a pastry chef Christopher Catling whose London pie shop was used by a Whig literary club from the 1690s into the 18th century.  The Kit Cat was phased out to be replaced, on August 29th 1935, by the first manufacture of the four-finger wafer in York, sold in London and the South East as Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp.  This then got re-branded as Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937 by George Harris, Marketing Director for Rowntree.  Although there was doubt at first as to its profitability, product development worker Thomas Thompson persuaded the board to back it. 

1937 was also the year that the word ‘Break’ was first used in Kit Kat advertising.  George Harris, who later became Chairman, was instrumental in launching a number of brands and introducing US marketing methods to challenge the dominance of Cadbury in milk chocolate.  Aero was another product that really took off, also introduced in 1935.

The advertising idea of a ‘break’ was converted into the famous slogan ‘Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat’ in May 1957, along with the image of the broken bar, when the first advert appeared on commercial TV.  The slogan was coined by Donald Gilles, an executive at advertising agency JWT in London.  By this time it was being sold in the ex-colonial countries of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.  When TV advertising began in 1955 Rowntree was ready with a £50,000 budget, increasing to £650,000 by 1957, half the total advertising budget.  By 1958 TV commercials accounted for 60% of all chocolate advertising money.  In 1960 Rowntree’s were spending £2.8 million on advertising, just behind their rivals Cadbury and Mars – and seventh in the advertising league table, with Unilever at number one.  In 1958, when some of these adverts were made, KitKat accounted for 14% of the total Rowntree advertising budget.  This is hardly surprising given that KitKat contributed about 20% of all Rowntree’s revenue (see Crystal, p 135/136).   At this time average chocolate consumption was about 8 oz per person per week (about 5 bars of 4bar KitKats). 

One noticeable feature of the ads, which has since become something of lively debate in its own right, is the manner in which the KitKat is opened and eaten (see Nigel Slater’s piece on ‘'The Ritual of the KitKat').  This ritual was played up in subsequent adverts.  Yet in 2001 the silver foil was replaced by flow wrap plastic packaging.  The disappointment this caused, especially among its female fans, who make up the majority, led Nestlé to put £3 million into a marketing campaign for the new packaging.

The chocolate bar varies in many countries due to different health laws on food substances – a fact that causes headaches for all those mega corporations that control so much of food production, and who have to employ food technologists in an attempt to reproduce a consistent taste.  But there are also large differences in size and the flavours on offer: in Japan these flavours include peanut butter, cucumber, Earl Grey tea, watermelon and salt, cheese, bubblegum, wine, custard pudding and aloe vera (see the list on Wikipedia).  One can only wonder why these aren’t on offer over here!  Some have noted the irony that in the US KitKat (and Rolo) are sold by Nestlé’s great US rival, Hershey Foods Corp.; after Rowntree licensed it to them in 1969 – which they can hold as long as the company isn’t sold.

After pressure from ethical consumer groups – because of poor pay and conditions for cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) – KitKat is now sold as a Fairtrade product, at least in the UK and Ireland.  Under Fairtrade terms, farmers receive the guaranteed minimum price or world market price (whichever is higher), plus the Fairtrade premium of US $150 per tonne for business and social development projects.  It remains to be seen how far this small victory for Fairtrade will be extended in the future.

References

Paul Crystal and Joe Dickinson, A History of Chocolate in York, Remember When (Pen & Sword Books), 2012.
Nigel Slater, Eating for England: The Delights and Eccentricities of the British at Table, Fourth Estate, 2007.
Fairtrade Foundation
Kit Kat ditches paper strap