'Grow Up': ITC Sunfeast promotes Dark Fantasy Vanilla biscuits as cookies for millennials

ITC Sunfeast recently unveiled a special ad campaign designed to promote its new Dark Fantasy Vanilla Fills crème biscuits to millennials. The ad campaign features rapper and music producer Brodha V. “The Vanilla Fills Anthem” features the rapper in a bobble headed avatar, rhyming about the creaminess of the new cookie. “Molten Vanilla makes you jump like its bungee, can’t block this cookie ‘cos you know it’s crunchy”, the song goes, urging the listeners to ‘Grow up’ as well. With these new cookies, the Dark Fantasy brand will now have a cookie with a molten vanilla core in a dark chocolate shell. The brand believes this will give customers a “delectable upgrade” and serve as a “break to the monotony of the regular crème biscuits”.

The ad gets interesting in the first few seconds itself when the bobble headed rapper mockingly asks the listeners if they are still dipping their cookies in milk? The rapper further emphasized that a cookie should be able “to drop your jaws like milk teeth.” 

Commenting on the new campaign, Ali Harris Shere, Chief Operating Officer, Biscuits & Cakes Cluster, Foods Division, ITC Limited, said, “Vanilla Fills was launched with a purpose to upgrade the regular crème biscuit category with a superior center filled experience. The cookie is filled with rich molten vanilla crème inside a dark crunchy choco shell, raising the bar on traditional crème biscuits. Dark Fantasy Vanilla Fills is a manifestation of our continued efforts to provide exciting new experiences to the new age consumers. With the launch of the rap song, we aim to dial up the appeal for Dark Fantasy Vanilla Fills- The new Age crème biscuits for grown-ups among its consumers.”

ITC’s appeal to millennials and people above a certain age for this cookie is different from the approach that other brands take with their cookies. The direct competition to the product, Oreo biscuits, usually runs ad campaigns directed towards children. “Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Vanilla Fills’ rap song asks late teens and young adults to break free from juvenile habits and be open to new experiences like the Dark Fantasy Vanilla Fills. The quirky lyrics communicate the message of “Grow up” to the new vanilla fills in an relatable approach with catchy and upbeat music,” the company said in a statement. 

Other competitors like JimJam have been releasing ads that are more oriented towards children. A 2021 ad campaign launched by Oreo featured a father and son portrayed by MS Dhoni and Ziva bonding over the cookies while playing together. 

ITC is also promoting the cookies in colleges, where consumers can participate in a ‘dance hook step challenge’ and get an opportunity to win a special gift hamper from Dark Fantasy Vanilla Fills. This, along with the general theme of the advertisement, fortifies the brand’s targeted demographic for the cookies, the youth.

Dark Fantasy now features six variants in cookies: Choco Fills, Choco Fills Luxuria, Choco Crème, Vanilla Crème, Coffee Fills, Choco Meltz and Vanilla Fills.