On February 14th, countless chocolates for Valentine's Day will be consumed and The One Love Foundation is giving people the chance to consume mindfully by asking: "can a chocolate teach you to love better?" as part of its #LoveBetter campaign.
To transform the experience of eating a box of chocolates into an experience around relationships, The One Love Foundation created a set of custom confections that model both unhealthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors, including Respect, Honesty, Equality, Independence, Sabotage, Obsession, Isolation and Manipulation. Beyond just including an insert about each word, The One Love Foundation intentionally created each chocolate to create a rich sensory experience. For instance, Respect sets a gold standard as a dark chocolate decorated with gold saffron, while Jealousy contains a bitter center and Manipulation is physically difficult to eat due to the inclusion of hard, sticky caramel that literally takes control of one's jaw.
Experiential Relationship Chocolates
These Chocolates for Valentine's Model a Toxic Relationship
Trend Themes
1. Mindful Consumption - Creating chocolates that encourage mindful consumption and promote awareness of relationship dynamics.
2. Experiential Education - Using chocolates as a tool to educate and raise awareness about healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors.
3. Sensory Experience - Enhancing the eating experience by creating chocolates that engage multiple senses and evoke emotions.
Industry Implications
1. Food and Beverage - Opportunity for food and beverage companies to create experiential products that provoke thought and reflection on social and personal issues.
2. Education - Opportunity for educational institutions and organizations to utilize experiential learning methods in teaching complex subjects like relationships.
3. Consumer Goods - Opportunity for consumer goods companies to explore innovative approaches to product design that elicit specific emotions or experiences.