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For over 30 years, buyers have been attracted by the face of a blonde-haired boy beaming our from the product's weapper, Der Spiegel says, but he has now been replaced by a more modern youngster, a move which has caused unrest among shoppers and given rise to a protest movement which includes a website, which 20,000 fans of Kinder Schocolade have already visited

Before

After

  
The new boy (see picture above) is blond, has pearly white teeth and an orange, instead of a white polo shirt. Controversial? It was just a question of bringing the boy up to date, says Ferrero.

Nevertheless, pretty much everyone in Germany is familiar with the 'old' boy, who, in real life, is now 42 years old and employed as a cameraman. "Ferrero is stealing part of our identity from us", Jan Thiele, who is behind the protest movement, explains on the website. "The new boy uses hair gel". 'Kevin', as she has dubbed the new character, just has to go, she says.

"We're not really calling for a boycott", however, Thiele tells Der Spiegel. Maybe not, but visitors to the website are invited to send a pre-prepared e-mail to Ferrero to register their disgust. In addition, they are offered home-made covers for the chocolate bar which they can simply slip over the 'offending' new pack design.

The movement appears to be having some success, with two retailers who have been in contact with Thiele estimating that sales of Kinder Schokolade have fallen by 25% since the change.

Spoken to by Der Spiegel, Ferrero is remaining relaxed in the centre of all this unrest. "A new face is always going to have a difficult time", says a spokeswoman. "But it was simply time to modernise".

It is too early, the company says, to confirm whether sales have been affected, the new packaging only having been introduced in September. As regards the online protest, the spokeswoman puts a positive spin on it, commenting that at least people are talking about the bar.

"Changes like this can destroy part of a brand", says Franziska Völkner of Hamburg University's marketing faculty. "The product is closely associated with the previous face". Coca Cola, she points out, underwent similar difficulties when it tried to change its appearance and taste. "That", she notes, "was a flop".

Volkner adds that Ferrero should take care to ensure that the new face comes with the right associations. 'Kevin', she believes, probably has all the right qualities. "He could be the cheeky but lovable grandson that grandmothers so love, or the son many people would like to have".

Ferrero, Der Spiegel says, is going to have to watch the situation, however, given that many of its advertising spots for Kinder Schokolade appeal to 30 and 40 year-olds who know the product from their youth. Nevertheless, Franziska Völkner does not recommend pandering to them by returning to the old packaging design. "That would be the wrong way to go", she says. "The new face is a brand promise that must now be fulfilled".

In any case, she feels, it was high time the pack was changed. For brands to exist in the long term, she says, they have to modernise their image from time to time. "Children of today just can't relate to the old image", she explains. "Maybe Ferrero even waited too long. That's why the leap is now so difficult".

Click on the link below (left) to read this story for yourself, in German, on the Der Spiegel website. Alternatively, click on the link below (right) to visit the Ferrero Germany website.