Tony’s Chocolonely began as a protest and grew into a brand with a mission to end exploitation in the cocoa industry. But as the company turns twenty, it faces a new challenge: can a purpose-led brand compete in a saturated chocolate market without becoming indistinguishable from its competitors?
At SXSW London, Tony’s Chief Brand Officer Sadira E. Furlow joined Chuck Studios’ Olaf van Gerwen to unpack how the company is rewriting both its own rules and the visual language of the category.

Mission First, Product Next But Not Too Late
Furlow was blunt about the brand’s evolution. “We’re great at talking about our mission. We weren’t great at talking about our chocolate.” For a long time, that imbalance was by design. Tony’s focused on awareness, using its distinctive red wrappers and unequally divided bars to symbolize the inequity of the cocoa supply chain.
But there was an unintended consequence: they were so focused on being right, they risked becoming forgettable in the aisle. “We had to get over our preciousness,” Furlow said. “Most people just want to know, does it taste good?”
The brand needed to speak in the language of pleasure without losing its soul. That’s where Chuck Studios came in.
The Case Against 'Chocolate Swirl' Advertising
Olaf van Gerwen, a director and creative strategist, described the problem as endemic. “Too many brands promote their category, not themselves,” he said. In food and drink especially, aesthetic norms dominate. For chocolate, it’s the sensual liquid swirl, the molten drizzle, the slow-motion break. But while it all looks delicious, it also all looks the same.
“Deliciousness is a category cue,” he explained. “If everyone shows the same version of delicious, no one remembers who made it.”
To break that visual monoculture, van Gerwen and his team developed a new concept: culinary identity. Much like a sonic or visual identity, it helps brands create distinctiveness rooted in what they actually sell. In Tony’s case, they turned to consumer behavior and the way people instinctively snap off the same irregular bottom chunk of the bar before sharing.
Meet Neil: A Chunk Worth Remembering

That behavioral insight led to Neil, the name given to Tony’s now-iconic corner chunk. Roughly textured and asymmetrical, Neil is what you eat first, what you snap for yourself, what you crave before the mission kicks in.
Using Neil as the brand’s edible ambassador, Chuck Studios created a campaign identity that feels physical, textural, and true. It lets Tony’s showcase what makes its product memorable without relying on the tropes of the category it wants to change.
“There’s neuroscience behind it,” van Gerwen said. “A whole bar is perceived as a product. A broken chunk? That’s food. That’s craveable. That’s identity.”
Making the Mission Famous, One Chunk at a Time
Furlow, who joined from PepsiCo, reflected on how fast the brand has moved. “What would take 12–18 months in a big company, we did in six.” From concept to campaign to real-world rollout, the Neil-led identity is already live across Tony’s channels from U.S. Instagram shots to global retail displays.
More importantly, it’s working on both levels: it tells the ethical story, but it meets people in the aisle with taste and texture, not lectures. “We’re going to be famous for our mission,” she said. “But we’re also going to be famous for this chunk.”
Key Takeaways
Your ethics are only as strong as your execution: A bold mission needs brand assets that live at shelf, on screen, and in the mouth.
Culinary identity creates creative freedom: Breaking category conventions (like molten chocolate tropes) makes your product yours.
“Neil” is more than a chunk, it’s a behavior insight turned brand asset: Distinctiveness doesn’t have to be invented. It can be observed.
Don’t trade off taste for virtue: Consumers enter through taste. Let them stay for the story.
Go fast, then refine: Tony’s built its new campaign identity in under six months. Getting started beat getting stuck.
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