The Premier League and Cadbury have announced a three-year partnership, which will see Cadbury becoming Official Confectionery Partner to the Premier League, from the 2017/18 season.
The partnership will doubtless have an impact in Ireland with Cadbury active in marketing here and a recent supporter of Paralympics Ireland. It has also been involved in GAA sponsorships and as a partner of Team Ireland at the London Olympic Games.
As part of the partnership between Cadbury and the Premier League, Cadbury will enjoy a range of rights relating to player milestones – including the Premier League’s Golden Boot and Golden Glove awards.
It is also likely they will have competitions and activations reaching out to those from Ireland who take around one million trips per season to see matches taking place across the Irish Sea.
Criticism
The partnership has drawn criticism in England where it will also be used as a major plank in an existing Cadbury programme called ‘Health for Life’ whose aim is to ‘educate people on healthy eating, nutrition and exercise.
Speaking to the BBC last night National Obesity Forum spokesman Tam Fry said that “If the sponsorship meant that a host of kids would be encouraged to exercise and kick footballs to kingdom come, but didn’t come near a bar of chocolate, the forum might regard it as money well spent.”
“But since the Premier League is rich enough to do this on its own anyway, and Cadbury could be looking at a downturn in the confectionery market, we regard this as little more than a marketing ploy.”
It is likely that the partnership will also draw criticism from campaigners here and with the potential of a ‘sugar tax’ still on the cards, despite a delay caused by issues around Brexit, it will be carefully watched by health campaigners.
Read about the potential Sugar Tax in Ireland
Any criticism though will need to be seen against a background of global sport where Irish regulation cannot control what is seen or heard in relation to an overseas event or competition.
“For 80 years in Ireland, Cadbury has strived to bring little moments of joy to people’s lives, something that fits well with the joy created by Premier League football every day – whether it’s a moment of magic that turns a match, watching a game together with family, or just debating the weekend’s goals with friends,” said Tricia Burke, Brand Manager with Cadbury Ireland.
“This partnership opens up fantastic opportunities to bring those moments of joy to life in new and different ways – in-store, on our packaging and other ways we hope will surprise and delight our customers.”
“This is an incredibly exciting chance to bring together the Cadbury brand with the iconic Premier League brand, and a chance for us to be part of moments such as the Golden Boot and Golden Glove awards.”
“We are very excited to begin this journey with the Premier League and we look forward to engaging football fans right across the country.”
