have a break have a kitkat / History

1. Advertising, design and visual culture
Current Issue
Feature: Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat
Creative Review
Kit Kat (1957)
Donald Gilles
JWT
In 1941 confectioner Rowntree’s of York was forced to change the recipe of its Chocol ate Crisp bar because of
wartime food shortages. Conscious of disrupting a loyal fanbase (the product came out of an employee suggestion
that the company make “a chocolate bar that a man could take to work”) the company la unched a new bar in a blue
wrapper using the name, Kit-Kat, which the Chocolate Crisp had carried as a nickname since 1937. The tagline
war ned that there would be ‘No More Chocolate Crisp Till After The War’ and, when it finally did retur n to the shops, it
only lasted until 1949 when it relaunched as the fully-fledged Kit Kat and its blue li very was replaced with red.
According to Nestlé historian Alex Hutchinson, the Kit Kat name had been registered b y Rowntree’s in 1911 but its
origins went back much further, to the name of an early 18th-century debating society . The Kit-Cat Club had met
regularly in a taver n in Shire Lane in London, hosted by innkeeper Christopher Catlin g, known as ‘Kit Cat’ to his
friends. Nearly 200 years later, the snappy moniker fitted with agency J Walter Thomps on’s attempts to move away
from the longer, more literal names used on Rowntree’s other products. During JWT’s e arly work with the brand, the
idea of associating the Kit Kat bar with the enjoyment of a short break from the work ing day also began to develop.
The first use of the tagline ‘Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat’, written by the agency’s D onald Gilles, can be traced to May
1957. A year later it was used on the first television spots for the brand and ever si nce has been a staple of campaigns
for the chocolate bar. Initially the line reflected the welcome 11am tea break – ‘elev enses’ – common to British
factories. But as it became more widely used, particularly on television, the flexibil ity of the phrase became the key to
its longevity. The benefits in taking a break from something could be applied to all m anner of stressful (and potentially
comedic) situations.
One popular TV spot from 1989, for example, depicted a photographer patiently trying to snap a pair of pandas in a
zoo. Only while he is taking a  break do they finally emerge – on roller skates.
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2. Similarly irreverent humour had been used in a 1987 commercial, No Rest for the Wicke d, which followed a devil and
an angel enjoying a break from the routine of their respective ‘jobs’ in the foyer of an otherworldy office building.
In each (and there are dozens of TV commercials) the ‘Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat’ l ine worked because of its
association with recognising life’s small defeats, rather than glorifying its triumph s. Interestingly, in the US in the 1980s
the clauses were reversed so the line became the more instructive, but far more lumbe ring, ‘Give Yourself a Kit Kat.
Give Yourself a Break’.
In another change of tack in 2001, the tagline took a back seat in a UK commercial th at depicted a host of famous
names such as Lemmy, Kelly Brook and Ber nard Manning ‘taking a break’ from their own stereotypes. Manning
suggests to his wife that her mother might like to come over for a visit (while doing the washing up) and the Daleks
intone “Give. Us. A. Cuddle” while patrolling a shopping centre.
Despite these interpretations it’s the relationship to the workplace, specifically its recreation time, that keeps the Kit
Kat tagline relevant. While Rowntree’s was bought by Nestlé in 1988, Kit Kat retains its Britishness and there’s
something in the tagline that taps into our obsession with working life. But sport ha s played a part, too. During
Wimbledon in 2010, JWT rushed out a site-specific Kit Kat ad after the longest tennis match in history had finally
come to an end. After 11 hours of play, John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut 70–68 in the fin al set, resulting in a break no
doubt welcomed by both players.
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Creative Review - Have a Break. Have a Kit Kat http://creativereview.co.uk/current-issue/06-have-a-break-hav...
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