#cadbury purple

[squideo]

The Magic Behind Cadbury’s Gorilla Advert

In this series, Squideo has examined the best ways to turn advertising content into gold. Now that we’ve broken down the eight key ingredients, it’s time to dive deep into some examples of stellar advertising. This week, the advert in question was picked by Squideo’s Creative Director Ben Underwood.

When asked why this particular advert had become his favourite of all time, Ben said: “there’s a gorilla playing the drums, how can it not be?”

Cadbury in the Mist

Cadbury is no stranger to advertising success, from its iconic Smash Martians in 1974 to the captivating Flake Girl in 1985. These adverts have frequently featured in polls asking the British public about their favourite television ads. The only thing missing from this trifecta of marketing sensations is 2007’s Gorilla.

The advert was released at a difficult time for this beloved British institution, which was founded in 1824. In 2006, several batches of chocolate were contaminated with salmonella which led to a £20 million GBP recall and £1 million fine in 2007 from the Crown Court for its failure to notify the Food Standards Agency.

This was followed in rapid succession by more PR nightmares. A failure to highlight allergy risks in its Easter Eggs, the hiatus of its sponsorship of British soap opera Coronation Street, large staff cuts to its British workforce, a huge marketing disaster with its newly acquired Trident Chewing Gum, and a badly planned treasure hunt shutting down a cemetery. Cadbury was starting to look bad and needed a change in fortunes fast to reverse its declining sales.

King Cadbury

Fallon approached Cadbury in 2006, with plans to lure the confectionary giant away from its existing advertising agency. Gorilla formed part of its major pitch, aiming to move Cadbury away from its middle-aged and middle-class marketing. Fallon wanted to revitalise the brand and inject much needed whimsy to attract a younger audience. Considering Cadbury was the brand that inspired Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it shouldn’t have been hard to do.

According to Phil Rumbol, director of marketing at Cadbury’s:

“The whole business had become quite earnest and serious, when in fact it’s chocolate and should be more about things such as Willy Wonka… The brief I gave the agency was: Eating Cadbury’s chocolate makes you feel good.”

The idea for the Gorilla advert, by director Juan Cabral, didn’t start with Cadbury and it was proving a hard sell. “Random advertising,” with no clear theme, plot or reason, is a lot more common in the 2020s than it was in 2007. Clients didn’t see the point in a drum-playing Gorilla; until Cadbury.

Even then, Rumbol faced opposition within the company and it took four months from the adverts creation until he was able to air it on Channel 4 in August 2007.

Planet of the Dairy Milks

Airing during the ad breaks for Channel 4’s eighth season of the monumental hit Big Brother, the initial airing was always certain to get plenty of views – 14% of all British viewers were watching the channel at the time it aired. What wasn’t assured was the advert becoming a viral hit; but Gorilla managed it.

Watched by millions on YouTube, the advert also quickly inspired several parodies including those on The Mighty Boosh and BBC Children in Need. Cadbury saw a 10% rise in profits following the release of the advert, finally convincing everyone of Gorilla’s potential. Cadbury eventually paid to film additional footage for the advert, broadcasting the lengthened version during the 2007 Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa.

But why did Gorilla become such a big hit?

Magnificent Music

Cadbury’s use of Phil Collins In The Air Tonight put the song back in the charts 25 years after its initial release in 1981, which proves how instrumental the song was in the popularity of the advert. After all, the plot centres around it as the gorilla sits at the drums waiting for its opportunity to play the iconic drum fill. The line “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life” perfectly builds up to the gorilla’s star moment as it begins the solo.

Like the full version of the song, there is a build up in the advert before the solo. Out of its total length, 90 seconds, the audience spends 60 seconds waiting. The camera focuses on the gorilla’s preparation, with only Collin’s lyrics to entertain in the meantime.

Beautiful Branding

Panatone 2685C (HEX#330072). Otherwise known as Cadbury Purple. For much of the advert, this purple patch behind the character is the only indication given that this is a Cadbury advert. For many companies, this would be insufficient branding for a marketing advert – but not for Cadbury.

The colour purple was chosen for the brand in 1905, supposedly because it was the late Queen Victoria’s favourite colour. It features on every Cadbury product, and in 1995 became the subject of a trademark dispute. Cadbury successfully trademarked the colour, however this has been contested by major rival Nestlé ever since.

The gold accents throughout the advert, including the band on the wall behind the drumkit and the gorilla’s gold teeth, complete the branding and the advert is bookended by Cadbury logos.

Going Gorilla

Director Juan Cabral went to great lengths to make the gorilla character as realistic as possible. In 2007, CGI isn’t what it is today which didn’t make it an option considering the ‘documentary feel’ Cabral wanted. They eventually found a gorilla costume at Stan Winston Studio in Hollywood that had been produced for the 1995 film Congo.

The actor who wore the suit, Garon Michael, was in the same film. Animatronics controlled the facial expression of the gorilla, and some customisations were made to the costume like adding the gold teeth. Michael repeatedly practiced the drum solo while wearing the costume in order to emulate Phil Collins, to such a success that initially people thought it was Collins dressed as the gorilla.

According to Cabal, the aim was to make it look like the gorilla had been waiting for this drum solo all its life – just as the lyrics to In The Air Tonight suggest during the lead in. Without the successful use of animatronics to create facial expressions and Michael’s dedicated performance, this aim could have been lost and with it the song would have had less impact.

Content Worth Gold

What do you think? What made Gorilla such a successful advert with a long legacy in British advertising history? Watch the full advert below and let us know in the comments.

Get in touch with the Squideo team today to find out how we can improve your advertising strategy with video production, motion graphics, social media management and much more!

[mewtillidae]

posting a kremy every single day until new episodes of OUAW are out DAY 24

[pippinscribs]

where’s your bulb now

[aneverydaything]

Day 2322, 31 October 2024

Cadbury's Hot Chocolate Lid

When it's the last day of the month and you have no time to feel inspired because everyone is demanding everything today, there is always the lid of a Cadbury's Hot Chocolate

[dim20-stims]

"Where is your bulb now?"

x x x - x 🐇 x - x x x

[talos-stims]

cadbury chocolate eclairs | source

[terabyte-teddybear]

lapin cadbury moodboard! acoc pc moodboards 7/8

[thefashionforwardfiles]

[writing-for-life]

Thanks for the tag, @marlowe-zara

Oh FFS 🙈🤣

You couldn’t make it up if you tried. I don’t know what to say. It’s sort of accurate? A bit worryingly so (as long as it’s not Thessaly pulling down the moon). I’d definitely wear those clothes (in fact, I often look sort of similar, although a bit less elegant 🤣). And you can never have enough dark chocolatey things…

Most of the usual suspects have been tagged already, but I didn’t see @morpheusbaby3 anywhere yet, so I’ll just tag you and everyone else who wants to play (please tag me if you do!)…

Tagged by my cupcake, @mariamariquinha! Thank you, darling. 🩷

how does pinterest see you? search up:

~fashion

~pantone

~mood

~food

and put the first picture that shows up

No pressure tagging: @marlowe-zara, @ongreenergrasses, @filmnoiress, @jerk-bending, @caesarclowningaround, @spionageabwehr

[goldenamaranthe-blog]

Happy Easter: Dysfuctional Family

Charlie: (blowing a kazoo through the hotel while wearing white bunny ears and tail, carrying an Easter basket, and throwing bright colored and decorated eggs everywhere)

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!!!

Hazbins: (groan collectively)

Vaggie: (slightly distracted by the tail) Hun, love the enthusiasm, but do you even know the purpose of Easter Sunday is?

Charlie: (cracks open a Cadbury egg and siphons out the innards with her tongue) Isn't it just an excuse to binge on chocolate and snuggle fluffy little bunnies and ducklings?

Angel: (clutches his pearls in ex-Catholic Italian horror) Mama Mia!

Lucifer: *Squeeeeee!* I'll be right back!

Vaggie: I guess that's a more corporate way to put it.

Angel: That's IT!!! I'm making my Mama's Italian Easter Bread! Charlie, you need to be schooled on Easter!

Alastor: Hmmm... I suppose if we're doing a full celebration, I can do a little something to liven things up. (Snaps his fingers, and everyone's clothes are transformed into various colored Bunny footie pajamas)

Charlie: (wearing hot pink bunny jammies and twirls) Oooooh! These are so cuuuute!

Vaggie: (in pastel lavender pajamas and snarling) Cabron!

Angel: (sneaky smirk as he wears a pastel pink and white two-piece pajama suit) Oh, Smiiiiiiles?

Alastor: (simply wearing red bunny ears) No.

Angel: C'mon! Hear me out! (Whispers in Alastor's ear)

Alastor: Hmmmmm.... I'll allow it! (Snaps his fingers again)

Vaggie: (baggy bunny jammies suddenly transform into a black and velvet purple, Las Vegas Showgirl bunny suit with white tail and ears, fishnets, and heels with purple wrist cuffs)

Angel: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! LOOKING GOOD, VAGS!!!!

Vaggie: (growls and tries to cover herself) FUCKING-A, ANGEL!!! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TELL HIM?!?!?!

Angel: Does it matter? I don't have a soul to sell. (Sees Charlie) Ha! Might wanna focus on your girlfriend, Toots.

Vaggie: What? (Looks at Charlie)

Charlie: (blushing, heart eyes, panting like a puppy, and her pajamas turned into a similar Showgirl suit but red with fox ears and tail)

Vaggie: Ch-Charlie? Charlie! No. No! Charlotte Morningstar, we are in front of guests! Shit! (Runs down the hallway)

Charlie: (hearts explode around her head) Hippity-Hoppity, that ass is my property! (Gives chase)

...........

Vaggie: (rounds back around the corner while carrying Charlie bridal style) Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Lucifer: (rides in on a tidal wave of fluff infused rubber duckies while wearing yellow ducky footie pajamas with orange webbed feet) RELEASE THE QUACKEN!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Alastor: (sighs in aroace exhaustion as a random rubber duck bounces off his head)

Angel: (slowly calming down as he wipes a tear from his eye) It's just like home~

[nanaluvbug]

🍬🍭🍪 A Crown of Candy portraits 🍬🍭🍪

patreon * twitch * shop  

[ID: a series of digitally illustrated portraits showing Count Liam Wilhelmina (a pink peppermint boy with a small, smiling pig on his shoulder. he wears a red & white striped hat and shirt with pink straps and he smiles at the viewer), Princess Jet Rocks (a young black licorice lady with a locket wrapping around her, she wears a bright red/black/gray outfit & a hot pink candy circlet/hoop earrings. her black hair is tied in a long braid and she smiles at her twin beside her), Princess Ruby Rocks (a young red licorice lady with an identical locket wrapping around her. she wears a bright red/black/white outfit & a hot pink candy circlet. her licorice hair is tied up in a short pony tail and she smiles at her twin beside her), Lord Commander Theobald Gumbar (a bright red gummy bear knight adorned in gold armor. he has a large pale blonde mustache and thick eyebrows, he wears a purple sash and red cape. a small blue sprinkle floats near his helmeted head and he stares at the viewer stoically), King Amethar Rocks (a pink pop rocks man with a green crystal beard. he wears a pale purple collar with sprinkles on it. he stares at the viewer unfavorably and wears a large candy crown depicting blue raspberry hard candy, hot cocoa, blue rock candy, and lemon drops in memory of his fallen sisters), and Primogen Lapin Cadbury (an old chocolate bunny man with a gray beard. he wears a high blue collar and small lavender glasses, a light & dark purple lollipop hovers behind him. her sneers condescendingly at the viewer, one white eyebrow furrowed in disdain.) End ID.)

[orangeblossoms7]

Sneak Peek: More Chocolate Valley!

I initially wanted the color of the packaging to be red as tribute to my favorite Filipino cake shop 'Red Ribbon', but I had a hard time trying to make the box of chocolates look luxurious with all the red and that's why I switched to this iridium purple color.

It kinda looks like Cadbury now but whatever, hehehe. (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

What's important is that I still think it turned out great. <(˶ᵔᵕᵔ˶)>

(i never knew it was gonna be so hard to draw a box of chocolates in 16x16 pixels...)

[doodleswithangie]

"Boldness will be required in the days to come, Lapin."

My piece for "CANDY COUTURE VOL. 2" ran by @kindlespark as part of this year's D20 Zine Jam! This one was definitely a journey but I'm very proud of how it came together.

If you want to check out everyone's incredible pieces and for a look into our design processes, the zine is available here and as part of a pay-what-you-want bundle with 49 other D20 zines here! All proceeds from the sale of this bundle will be donated to the entertainment community fund in solidarity with the SAG/WGA strikes.

[Image description: Fanart of The Sugar-Plum Fairy and Chancellor Lapin Cadbury from Dimension 20's "A Crown of Candy." Alt text is provided and copied below the cut, along with a more detailed image description of their clothing.]

A recreation of Sugar-Plum Fairy and Lapin's meeting in Episode 1. They are depicted as haloed figures dressed in Rococo and Baroque inspired fashion. A cracked teacup mended with golden magic stands on the pedestal behind them.

As he bows, Lapin shifts his heavy blue cape to reveal an emerald green two piece suit. Both are adorn with lace appliques and beading.

The Sugar-Plum Fairy wears a Rococo style gown over an off-the-shoulder frilled chemise and draped in a cerulean wrap. A small pair of feathered wings is affixed to the bodice, which features beading and boughs of ribbon that pattern throughout the dress. Giant sugar plum leaves layer a red spotted fringed petticoat and striped purple underskirt below. Her hair is inspired by Marie Antoinette, with an extravagant headpiece of masks, sugar plum leaves, and feathers.

End ID

[izzywantscheesecake]

sick day-hobie brown

Today was a bad day.

You thought you had gotten rid of your sickness for good yesterday, but that was just the appetizer in the huge buffet of nausea your body was preparing especially for you.

You had begged your parents a second time to let you stay home from school, and they let you, albeit slightly skeptical about how sick you claimed to be. You hoped whatever was in you would disappear by the next day, because they told you after today they wouldn’t let you commit truancy any longer.

Nobody was in the house with you, everyone you lived with had work and their own personal things to deal with, so you had to treat yourself.

You stayed in bed all morning, not getting anything done and occasionally using your energy to get up and use the bathroom or go to the kitchen.

It hadn’t even hit you how much time had passed before it was around 3, the usual time your school ended. You wiped a bead of sweat off your forehead, annoyed about how lazy you’ve been all day even though it really wasn’t your fault.

Succumbing to your low energy, you began to feel your eyelids droop and your body relax. Just before everything went black, a sudden banging at your window caused you to jolt awake.

You shifted up in your bed, thinking the source of the noise might’ve been a squirrel or a pigeon, but a tall silhouette standing by your balcony told you otherwise.

Slowly pulling yourself out of the sheets, you walked towards your window, eyes beginning to sparkle once you recognized what was standing there.

It was your friend, Hobie Brown, from 6th form. He still had his uniform on, indicating he came to your house immediately after school ended, and he was holding about three bags, evenly spread out on each arm.

You unlocked your window, giving him access to your room, and he stepped in, his boots gruffly making contact with your wood tiled floor.

“Hey, Y/N. A little birdie told me you were feeling a bit iffy this week.”

“A bit? I’ve been bedridden all day. I only just got up to let you in,” You replied, swiftly pulling yourself under the warm sheets of your bed again.

Hobie examined you for a few seconds, before letting out a snort.

“Man, you look terrible. But not to fear, Hobie is here. And he’s brought you a whole lot of sacred scroll texts from the lost city of Atlantis.”

Hobie placed the first bag down, and took out a purple folder, which he then handed to you in a mock regal manner.

You opened the folder, and saw exactly what you expected to see in there. Three worksheets of linear algebra, and a packet containing some Shakespeare text with short response questions.

“Wow, thanks. My maths and literature homework.”

“I know, I’m amazing, right? Tell me why when I went to collect your work from maths, the teacher said she didn’t even think I attended school anymore.”

“Well, that lady’s always been quite senile. But then again, you’re constantly skiving so I also can’t blame her for thinking that. What’s in the other bags?”

“Some gifts.”

He opened the second bag, and you were delighted to see a pack of Cadbury chocolate bars, accompanied with a teddy bear and other various confectionaries.

Just as you were about to go all in, he stopped you.

“Wait. Have you eaten any real food all day?”

“No.. I’ve just been laying here.”

“I thought so.”

He opened the third and final bag, which was chicken broth, some spices, and a pack of noodles.

“Why did you..”

“I’m going to make you soup, silly. Consider me your private nurse.”

“You have too much free time. I’ll be fine, just go home.”

“Mmm, no. Any road, direct me to your kitchen. I’ve only ever seen your room.”

“It’s down the hall to the left. But I can show you, just follow m-”

You made a few attempts to stand up, and every time you did, Hobie would just gently shove you back onto the bed.

“Nuh uh. You stay here, let me take care of you.”

Eventually, you realized it was no use trying to fight him and you felt yourself sinking deeper down into the bed as you listened to him cook in the kitchen, humming some tune you’ve never heard of.

After maybe 30 minutes, Hobie re-entered your room with a tray of soup accompanied by tea. Also on the tray was a thermometer you assumed he must’ve stolen from your bathroom.

He gently placed the tray of food down, grabbing the thermometer and setting it closer to your lips.

“Okay, now open your mouth.”

“You’re serious about this nurse thing, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Now say, aaah,” He replied.

You opened your mouth and closed it once the thermometer was in. The both of you waited about a minute, before Hobie pulled it out of your mouth and examined the temperature.

“Holy shit, 38 degrees celsius. You’re burning up, Y/N.”

You shrugged as he put the thermometer down on your bedside table and picked up the tray of food, placing it gently in front of you.

“Start eating this while I get you a warm towel.”

The broth of the soup was better than expected, probably because Hobie also added additional seasoning. The tea was also good, you could taste a hint of honey which was helpful for your sore throat.

Hobie came back with the warm towel and placed it on your forehead to relieve congestion.

For the next hour, the two of you sat together, laughing and joking. Hobie told you about the latest drama at school that you’ve missed, and also talked about things he did over the weekend.

It was a very simple conversation, but you enjoyed it a lot, Hobie really had a way of making uninteresting things interesting.

Suddenly, you heard the sound of a car pulling up to your driveway, and immediately snapped your head up to check the time on the clock.

It read, “16:46.”

“Hobie, you gotta get out of here. My parents didn’t want anyone to show up to the house today.”

He quickly nodded, cleaning up as much as he could before unlocking the window. Before he jumped out, he gave you a glance.

“And don’t forget, that’ll be £150.”

You scoffed jokingly. “I said, get out of here.”

He smirked, before jumping out the window and taking off down the street.

As soon as Hobie was out of the picture, you heard your room door open, and your parents walked in.

They questioned the soup and tea on the counter in the kitchen, and you told them you had started to feel better, and made it for yourself.

Today might’ve actually been a good day.

[silurisanguine]

Nine people I'd like to know better

tagged by: @eridanidreams

Last Song: Maggie Lindemann - You Hold My Love Favorite Color: I have 3 in rotation - Blood red, cadbury's purple and petrol teal. Watching: Currently nothing, but it will be the Fallout tv series for sure. Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Sweet or savoury. I do not do spicy. Relationship Status: Engaged and planning to get married very soon. Current Obsession: Starfield mostly, with a constant love for Adam Jensen, Dishonored , Vampyr and Garrett. Last thing I googled duckduckgo'd : The name of a location in Starfield.

Tagging @vorchagirl @1ll1ad @staticpallour @a-cosmic-elf @atonalginger @bloodofthepen @lisa-and-shadow @toxiclizardwrites @despicablediet

[litgwritersroom]

Please, a vet Andy AU!

OH PAW-LEASE

Andy / OC - 4900+ words - @mrsbsmooth

Cass is having a day. And the fact that the hot vet gets to witness every bit of it? Great. Just great.

TW: Dog/Animal appears to be sick/injured, but is fine.

Cass rinsed the last of the conditioner out of her hair, and started on washing her body. 

Another Friday evening, and once again, she was getting ready to meet a Tinder date. If it hadn’t been for her friends’ insistence, she would’ve given up already. She didn’t really want to go out with yet another guy who only saw her as a piece of meat. She’d much prefer to just sit on her couch with a block of Cadbury Dairy Milk, breaking off piece by piece until she’d convinced herself someone had broken in and finished half the block when she wasn’t looking. Sounded like a great Friday night to her. But, once again, she found herself in the shower, getting ready to meet up with another guy who’d watched just enough of her TikToks to seem interested.

Should she shave? If she really liked a guy, she made him wait until the second date to fuck him.  Did she like him enough to make him wait for it?

She thought for a moment. 

And grabbed her razor.

Shaved, and smooth as a baby’s arse, the way men supposedly expected these days, Cass threw her hair up in a claw clip. She collected the outfit she planned on wearing. Tight black dress, lacy underwear, no bra. Her Friday night special.

Her dress safely removed from her dry-cleaning bag, she shuffled into her giant fluffy cat slippers. She pulled on her hair-dye-stained Pet Shop Boys t-shirt and a pair of comfy shorts she usually wore to walk Joshie, shoving the underwear in the pocket. 

But as if he could hear the swish of the shorts, Joshie appeared.

“No, Joshie, you’ve already had your walk. I’m going out.”

As if extremely unhappy with this arrangement, Joshie nudged the bathroom door open, and shoved his nose up the leg of her shorts. 

“No, Joshie, there’s no treats in the pocket either. You ate them all.”

Cass swore Joshie gave her fucking attitude as he turned and sauntered off. Bulldog mixes were sassy, but Joshie was just a brat. His smooshy, ugly face and little snaggletooth making him look as cranky and grumbly as any dog could look.

God, she adored him. 

She washed her face, pulled her cosmetics case from the cupboard, and slipped her makeup headband on. She took out everything she’d need to start with. Eyeshadow, eyeliner… where the fuck were her lashes? She’d had them when she did her last video, they had to be in here. She dug around for a few moments… until she heard it. 

It was an odd sound, a crinkling, light sound that kind of made her hungry. It was so familiar somehow. It almost sounded like…

“Joshie! No!”

Cass bolted down the stairs, and what she saw made her heart stop beating. 

Joshie, looking guilty, his paw on the bright purple chocolate wrapper.

He’d licked it clean. 

The sound that came out of Cass’s mouth was unlike one she’d ever heard before. Wail, cry, scream, all of them at once, she didn’t even bother grabbing his harness before picking him up and rushing out the door. All she grabbed was her keys and wallet, unlocking her car and throwing Joshie into the passenger seat before practically falling over herself to get to the driver's side. 

She couldn’t go back for her phone to call ahead. 

There was no time.

She gunned it out of the driveway, went 15 miles over the limit down her street, running a stop sign and flying onto the main road as she swung her tiny little Audi around every corner.

And Joshie was starting to look unwell. 

Cass could barely see as she sped toward the vet, sobbing her tiny heart out as she bartered and pleaded with whatever God she could think of, begging them to let Joshie be okay.

And then he started retching.

Cass screamed, swinging into the parking lot of the vet clinic and wrenching Joshie across to her side. He was so fucking heavy, but in the moment, she had all the strength in the world, bolting across the parking lot and reaching for the door.

She pushed it open, sobbing, as she pleaded. 

“Help! Help! Please! Fuck, please, help me!”

The receptionist jumped to her feet, rushing toward them with arms outstretched as Cass collapsed under Joshie’s weight, dropping his back legs to the floor.

“What happened?” the girl asked. 

“Chocolate, he ate chocolate, I don’t know how much, I think it was a lot.”

“How long ago?” she asked.

“Five? Ten minutes, maybe? I probably got flashed by four cameras on the way here.”

The girl nodded, looking in Joshie’s mouth as Cass just continued sobbing. 

“Please, please, if something happens to him– this dog is–”

She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Cass burst into tears again, her head pounding from the strength of her sobs. She could barely even breathe.

“Okay, it’s okay,” the girl soothed her. “You did the right thing bringing him in. We’ll get him in right now. Let me just check if the vet’s still here–”

“I’m here, Jen!” a voice called, and Cass went to pick Joshie up again. But as she slid her arm underneath his bum, she felt a hand on her arm. “Here, let me.”

She sniffed hard, and let go, turning to look up in the direction of the voice.

You have got to be fucking joking. 

Jesus Christ, if she hadn’t been so worried about Joshie, she might’ve dropped him. 

Just her luck, the vet had to be the most stunningly gorgeous handsome delicious beautiful sexy thing that had ever graced a white coat and a stethoscope. Dark hair, dark eyes, a K-Pop smile and an adorable little clear spacer earring. Urgh.

He went down on one knee, lifting her fatass bulldog mix off the ground as if he was a goddamn pomeranian, and carried him into the examination room.

“Alright,” he said, heaving Joshie onto the table. “What’ve you done, buddy? Had a little chocolate snack? Bet that tasted good.”

Cass sobbed a laugh, trying to hide her sniffles.

“I’m Dr. Kim, can you sit?”

Joshie sat gingerly. 

“Good boyyyyy. And can you…. shake?”

Dr. Kim held out his palm to Joshie, who simply stared off into space, groaning. Cass sniffled. 

“Oh, he doesn’t know–”

“That’s okay,” Dr. Kim chuckled, lifting Joshie’s paw up and shaking it like a person. “Nice to meet you… sorry, I don’t have his file. What’s his name?”

“Joshie. Er– Joshua. He’s a rescue– I didn’t– it’s not–”

Dr. Kim furrowed his brow in amusement… and he laughed. It was pure, so sparkling and crystalline, dazzling like a chandelier on a beautiful summer’s evening.

“I love when animals have human names. My dog’s Murph. Also got a cat named Susan and a turtle named Gerald.”

She smiled, weakly, her laugh at the adorable names stunted by the deep sense of dread that hung over her. 

“Alright, tell me about the chocolate. The type, how much, anything you know.”

Cass nodded, swallowing hard. “Cadbury dairy milk, the big block. But I don’t know how much he had. I just saw the wrapper, so he must’ve finished it. He was retching in the car on the way here.”

“And you said it was five or ten minutes ago?”

She nodded again.

Dr. Kim furrowed his brow, and opened Joshie’s mouth, he whined, pulling away, and Cass burst into tears again. 

The adrenaline was so high, rushing through her body and leaving her shaking at the thought of losing Joshie. She’d only had him for two years, but if anything happened to him… Oh, God, she couldn’t bear to even think about it. 

She sobbed, and Dr. Kim looked up, shooting her a sympathetic look as he fetched her a box of tissues. He stuck his head out the door, quietly saying something to Jen, and closed it again. Before she even had time to thank him for the tissues, Jen stuck her head in and passed Cass a glass of water. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he cooed, crouching in front of her. “I know it’s hard to watch, I’m sorry. But Joshie can sense that you’re stressing out, and he’s stressing out because he’s worried about you. Try and look at something else.”

Cass looked around the room, before finally settling on Dr. Kim’s deep chocolate brown eyes, but he shook his head, smirking a little. “No, not me. Why don’t you look at your absolutely awesome slippers?”

She dropped her eyes, blushing, and looked down, realising what she was wearing. The enormous, fluffy cat heads at the end bobbled as her leg bounced up and down. 

“Oh God,” she cringed. “How embarrassing.”

He chuckled, turning back to Joshie. “I love them. I’d be staring at them too if I was you.”

“Thank you,” she sobbed, wiping tears from under her eyes. “I just– thank you.”

Dr. Kim didn’t say anything, and Cass wasn’t looking at him, trying to dab at her throbbing eyes and stop her nose from running. But when she opened her eyes, she caught him. 

He was watching her. Like, watching her; a curiosity in his eyes that had her wondering what he was wondering. And why he was looking at her as if he thought she was cute or something. 

Oh, dear sweet God, she suddenly was granted the gift of shame. 

She was in the office of the hottest vet in the entire hemisphere, in oversized shorts, an 80’s t-shirt stained with hair dye, fluffy cat slippers and a fucking makeup headband. She would’ve looked like a pufferfish, her eyes and nose and cheeks bright red, snot and tears running down her face. Her hair was dripping wet down the back of her neck, she had zero makeup on… God, she hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet.

But before she could even finish internally cringing, Joshie threw up.

Cass’s heart stopped, and she reached out for Joshie to stroke his back, but he just threw up again, the awful, foamy liquid coating Dr. Kim’s exam table. However, Dr. Kim didn’t look at all phased. Instead, he leaned in closer. 

“Well, I have good news and bad news.”

She looked up, her bottom lip trembling. 

“Good news is, Joshie didn’t eat any chocolate.”

“What!?” she gasped. “Are you sure?”

Dr. Kim nodded. “Certain. The wrapper must’ve been empty.”

Cass blushed furiously. Great. And now the sexy vet knew she’d polished off an entire block of chocolate. 

“Not sure how it could’ve been empty… surely… impossible…” she said, cringing to herself.

Dr. Kim’s stupidly pretty lips curled into an amused smile. But if she thought she was embarrassed then…

“He did eat something, though.”

Cass’s eyes widened as Dr. Kim stuck his pen into the green foam. And held up something black.

Black. And lacy.

Cass’s hand slapped her shorts pocket, and found it horrifically and mortifyingly empty. 

Death. A swift death. 

Please, Lord, come on, he had her pants on his fucking pen.

“Oh my God,” she groaned, covering her face. “Oh my God.”

Dr. Kim laughed, grinning widely at her. “Don’t be embarrassed. This happens at least once a week.”

Cass uncovered her face and forced a smile at him. Forced. Like she was going to force Joshie off a fucking cliff for doing this to her.

“In fact, it’s pretty lucky he brought them back up. These can wreak havoc on a dog’s intestines if they move through.”

“Why would he have thrown them up?”

Dr. Kim smiled a little. “Well… you said you were driving pretty fast. He might’ve just been carsick.”

Cass took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as she watched him ruffle Joshie’s ears.

“You’re lucky your Mum loves you so much, Joshie. If she hadn’t made you throw up you could’ve been in real trouble.”

Oh, God, did he have to be so Goddamn gorgeous?

Cass couldn’t help but shuffle in her slippers, feeling incredibly stupid and horrifically unattractive in the presence of a vet who was not only gorgeous, but also clearly loved his job, and animals. She would’ve called him a panty-dropper if she were wearing any.

“Thank you, Dr. Kim,” she said. “I’m really grateful.”

“Please, call me Andy,” he said. “I’m only Dr. Kim to my patients.”

Cass thought for a second, before furrowing her brow and laughing at the dumb joke. “I’ll make sure Joshie remembers it.”

“Better make sure he doesn’t eat anything else of yours,” Andy grinned. “If you came in here with one of those slippers all chewed up, I might cry.”

“You really like them?”

“I love them. Look, I shouldn’t say this…” Andy covered Joshie’s ears. “I like cats as much as I like dogs.”

Cass smiled, motioning to keep Joshie’s ears covered, and whispered. “Me too.”

“And I’ve gotta say, they look great with the Pet Shop Boys t-shirt.”

She looked down, cringing. “I swear I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Yeah, sure, I believe you.” Andy winked at her. 

“I’m serious!” she whined. “They’re one of my favourite bands.”

“Same,” he said with a smile. “It’s what my friends and I called ourselves at Uni.”

“Not the PAWlice?”

Andy beamed at her. “That was discussed. So was DePAWche Mode”

“Huey Lewis & The Mews.”

“Electric Light Pawchestra.”

“Salt-’N-Puppy. No, wait, The (laser) Pointer Sisters.”

“That one’s terrible,” he laughed. “But I admit, I could’ve vibed with Salt-’N-Puppy.”

“Should get some 80’s pop music going in here.”

“Nah, Jen would kill me,” he chuckled. “But I put my foot down at her Scandinavian horrorcore metal.”

Cass’s eyes widened, and Andy sighed. “You really are way too easy to mess with.”

She shot him a look of playful disapproval, and he grinned cheekily back. 

God, he was fucking cute. Deep, chocolate-brown eyes, soft black hair that was dying to have her fingers run through it. He was nice, funny, had great taste in music, great taste in slippers, and clearly adored animals… If only she’d looked the tiniest bit nicer, and hadn’t been such a goddamn fool today. Maybe had played it a bit cooler. Maybe hadn’t been so oblivious at his jokes.

Andy offered Joshie a little treat from the glass jar behind him, which he gladly accepted, chomping it down quite disgustingly and slobbering everywhere. Then, Andy turned the jar to Cass. 

She looked down at it, cringed, and looked up. “Thank you, but I’m vegetarian.”

Andy’s brow furrowed in confusion. “So am I… But, I was joking.”

“Oh… you were messing with me again,” she said. “Wow. Well done, me.”

Before Cass could keel over and die of embarrassment, Andy led her out to the front desk, and she placed her wallet and keys down to wipe her sweaty-ass hands on her shorts. 

Jen charged her card, and Cass stopped short of asking for a new emergency vet in the area so she would never ever have to face Andy again.

She picked up her keys and wallet, shoved them in her pocket, and picked Joshie up, carrying him to the car and sighing heavily as she heaved him into it. As she stood up, she smacked her head on the inside of the car door. She stumbled a little, and suddenly, out of nowhere, Andy appeared. 

“Oh my God, are you okay?” he asked, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders. She reached out to grab him, only managing to hook her hands onto his forearms, but as she did, she almost died. They were so firm, and not because he was flexing. That lab coat was hiding something– a physique that she could only dream about. He was fit. Fit fit fit fit fit.

She caught her breath for a moment, the pain searing through her like a knife as she shook it off.

“I’m fine, I’m totally fine,” she replied, forcing a smile. “Thanks.”

He looked at her with concern, and she looked back at him, feeling her cheeks flush a little as his strong hands held her shoulders. Damn. She kind of wished he’d grabbed her by the waist.

But something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Andy had an opaque plastic baggie in his hand. She furrowed her brow at it… and then realised what was probably in it.

Cass wondered if her embarrassment would ever end.

Andy glanced at the baggie. “Sorry, I forgot to ask… Did you want these back?”

He’d tried to be discrete, but she knew what was in them. It wasn’t like she was going to wear them again. She was sure they had some god-awful biohazard bin he could dump them in.

“No, no, you can keep them.”

She knew what she’d said before the words had even finished leaving her mouth, but she couldn’t stop them. She didn’t say anything. He didn’t say anything. After the afternoon she’d had, she just…

Facepalmed. 

Cass couldn’t stop her laughter, and it was only after a few seconds she realised Andy was laughing as well. They couldn’t stop, cracking up into a fit of giggles in the carpark with Joshie wagging his tail like crazy in the front seat. 

“Okay, now I’m absolutely leaving. The sooner I get out of here, the sooner I stop humiliating myself.”

He sighed hesitantly.

She cringed. “What is it?”

Andy chuckled, biting his lip slightly. “Would now be the wrong time to tell you you’ve got fake lashes stuck to your headband?”

Cass tugged her headband off, inspecting it, and groaned, plucking them off. Andy was trying desperately to contain his laughter. 

“Oh my God, stop enjoying this so much!” she laughed.

“I can’t help it!” he laughed. “You’re easily the funniest person I’ve had today.”

Cass playfully glared at him. “Oh, I’m glad I could keep you amused.”

Andy settled, sighing contentedly. “I’ll be honest, it’s not every day that… what I mean to say is…” He trailed off, slipping his hands into his pockets and chewing his lip. 

“It was lovely to meet you. And Joshie. I guess I was wondering… “ Andy blushed suddenly, looking a little nervous. “Hopefully I’ll see you again soon?”

Cass smiled widely, 

“God, for Joshie’s sake, I hope not!”

Andy looked a little perplexed, but waved at her as she said goodbye. She luckily managed to reverse out of her parking spot without hitting anything (cringe).

And she was allllllll the way down to the traffic lights before she realised what he’d been trying to say.

She had to rest her forehead on the steering wheel.

God fucking damn it. 

*

Cass was over an hour late for the date, but she looked amazing, so Marshall didn’t seem to care. He also didn’t really care about her explanation for why she’d been late. Didn’t ask about Joshie, or her… just heard about her pants and asked if that meant she wasn’t wearing any. 

She let him feel her up as she half-heartedly kissed him goodnight. But she didn’t fuck him. And it wasn’t because she liked him enough to make him wait for it.

As soon as she got inside, she deleted her Tinder profile.

Cass took off her makeup, brushed out her hair, and threw that same t-shirt and shorts combo back on.

And she went the fuck to bed. 

*

Cass awoke the next morning to a bulldog-mix drooling on her bed. She opened her eyes, groaned, and pulled herself up.

“Early walk today?” she asked Joshie. “You sure? Because I’m not taking you again later. You’ll give up halfway through and I can’t carry you. You know that.”

He said nothing, just snuffled.

She’d worn Joshie’s walking shorts to bed, so she had to change, throwing on a pair of leggings, her trainers, and another t-shirt.

Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

She couldn’t help but cringe at how badly she’d fucked things up yesterday. But she threw Joshie’s harness on him, clipped his lead, and walked out the door. 

It was a short walk to the dog park, and she knew Saturday morning would be a busy one, which was perhaps why Joshie wanted to go there. Then she realised that dogs don’t have a concept of days of the week, or of time. Or of dog parks. 

Maybe he just really wanted to poop there. As if on cue, the second she swung the dog park gate open, Joshie took up his familiar grunting crouch position. And once she’d picked it up, she looked around for a bin to dispose of the bag. And realised it was all the way on the other side of the park. Cass sighed, unhooked Joshie’s lead, tossed his ball, and set off. 

He was having a wonderful time, running around as best he could with a friendly Jack Russell, when out of nowhere, came a beautiful scruffy tan-and-cream dog, happily sniffing Joshie, who immediately fell head over heels in love. Because he started humping her. 

“JOSHIE!” she gasped. “Mate, NO!”

She pulled him off, scolding him, and instead petted the lovely girl, keeping Joshie at arms length as she ruffled through the scruffy fur for a nametag.

Murph.

Cass furrowed her brow. 

God, what were the chances of–

She looked up, and time started moving in somewhat slow motion. Because jogging towards her, in grey training shorts, a t-shirt, and a glowing halo of sunshine around him–

Was Andy.

“Joshie’s mum!” he called out, with a laugh as he approached.

“You have got to be fucking joking,” she said, horrifically out loud.

Andy looked amused as he finally reached her. “Wow, I knew dogs hated the vet, I didn’t know their owners did too?”

Cass blushed about fourteen shades of crimson, spluttering as he approached. “I– fuck, no, that’s not what I–”

His eyebrow twitched, and he shot her an expectant look. But, just like the day before, there was an obvious teasing in it. He was so goddamn motherfucking hot, she was sure she was going to fall over or walk into a tree or something.

She sighed. 

“What I meant was– Why is it that every time that me or my dog does something embarrassing, the person who witnesses it is you?” she groaned. “Like, I’ve got a bag of dog shit in my hand, and Joshie just full-on assaulted Murph right in front of you? He is such a pain!”

Andy grinned. “Stealing his human’s underwear, assaulting pretty girl dogs at the park… I wouldn’t call him a pain as much as I’d call him a sexual deviant.”

Cass groaned, and covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God, see? I have a sexual deviant for a dog. Unlike you.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Murph’s got her quirks. There’s a reason I don’t have any cute slippers like yours.”

Andy crouched down, and Murph approached him with so much love in her eyes that Cass almost swooned. She’d never seen a dog love their owner so much. There was just something about her attention and the way she leaned against his leg. Cass could almost feel their bond.

“I’m Cass, by the way,” she said. “Though, you probably knew that from my file.”

“I did, but I’m glad you said something. I did feel like a bit of a stalker checking it after you left.”

“As long as you didn’t actually keep my underwear, we’re good.”

He burst out laughing. “God, no. I’ll leave stealing those to your dog.”

Cass blushed again, but couldn’t take her eyes off Andy and Murph. And she desperately wanted to stop talking about the fact that Andy had had her thong on the end of his pen the day before. Talk about the dog, Cass. Talk about the dog.

“Murph is beautiful by the way. You failed to mention she was an Otterhound.”

Andy’s face fell into absolute shock. 

“Oh my God– How’d you know?”

She blushed a little. “I groom dogs on TikTok. I’ve never seen an Otterhound in person before, though.”

“Yeah… yeah,” Andy said, looking up at her as he stopped scritching Murph momentarily. There was something in his eyes– like a weird sense of astonishment and amusement– but she couldn’t exactly place it.

“How on earth did you find one?” she asked. 

He stood up, his hand and gaze not leaving Murph’s head. “She’s a failed show dog. Her head was too big for the breed standard.” Andy frowned. “Her breeders brought her in to be euthanized. I asked if I could keep her instead, and they said no. So I bought her.”

Cass’s eyes widened. “Jesus Christ. She must’ve cost…”

Andy cringed. “Five figures, and a contract that stated I had to have her desexed immediately.”

“But they’re a vulnerable breed,” Cass said. “Even without the breed standard, she could be crucial for the survival of the breed…”

He nodded. “I wasn’t happy about it. But it was that or have her put down.”

Cass didn’t even have a chance to stop the words from falling out of her mouth. 

“Those fucking assholes. Good on you. I hope you told them to fuck off as clients after that.”

Andy met her gaze, his own a little fiery. “Yep.”

“But far more politely, I’m sure.”

“Nope.”

There was a moment where his words sunk in. Only a moment. Because after that moment, she was pretty sure she was going to marry him. Or at least, be his best fucking friend.

“Do you want to walk with me?” she blurted out. “I’d love to hear the rest of your asshole client stories.”

Andy’s eyebrows shot up, a small smile curling on to his face. Followed by a slightly larger smile. Followed by a wide one. 

“Yeah, I’d love that.”

They walked in circles around the dog park, making a stop at the bin, but their conversation didn’t stop once. They talked about everything. Dogs, cats, music, movies, food, work, there wasn’t a single lull in conversation. 

He wasn’t on TikTok much, so he asked about her videos, getting her username. His jaw dropped when he saw her view count, and she blushed. Even more so when he realised she mostly did charity grooms for neglected dogs. 

He let slip that Jen had an Instagram page set up for the clinic, and he tried to stop her from looking for it, trying to grab her phone as she navigated to it. She burst out laughing when she realised it was basically just a thinly veiled thirst trap page, mostly of Andy holding adorable baby animals.

“I can’t exactly say no to her- her parents own the clinic! They’re my bosses!”

“She’s pimping you out!” Cass laughed. “But I mean, it’s an outstanding business model.”

Andy laughed. “How!?”

“I mean, if you’ve got a disgustingly hot vet on staff, may as well use him for promo.”

Cass was so busy smiling at Joshie and Murph, that she didn’t realise Andy had stopped walking beside her. She also didn’t realise what she’d said.

Until she did. 

She froze. “Uh… I…. Um…”

She turned back to Andy, cringing harder than she had at any point over the last day, expecting him to be looking at her weirdly. But instead, when she turned back, she saw him trying not to die of laughter. 

Cass smiled sweetly at him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and jump off a bridge.”

She made like she was going to walk away, but Andy jogged after her, grabbing her arm.

“Cass,” he said. “I think you’re disgustingly hot too.”

She froze again. She really had to stop freezing like this. It was making her look even more awkward.

“I… what? Seriously?”

Andy raised an eyebrow. 

“You’ve seen me… in two different 80’s band t-shirts, once in basketball shorts and cat slippers with fake lashes stuck to my head, bawling my eyes out. And the other time, I’m in leggings carrying my dog’s shit in a bag. What exactly about that screams hot to you?!”

He burst out laughing, and turned to her, beaming that same stunning smile.

“That,” he said. “Your sense of humour. You laugh at yourself, and you’re awkward, and you care as much about animals as I do.”

He stepped a little closer. 

“But you’ve got an incredible smile. Your body is insane. And even with fake lashes stuck to your headband instead of your face, you have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.”

Cass looked up at him, and was a little lost for words. 

“Andy… stop. And when I say stop, keep going.”

He cracked up laughing, grinning a mile wide before looking down at her again. 

“You know I was trying to ask you out yesterday, right?”

“Yeah, I realised as soon as I got to the end of the street.”

“And you basically told me you never wanted to see me again.”

Cass cringed. “Well, I guess it’s lucky that you find my awkwardness adorable?”

“It is,” he said. “But can I take that to mean I can ask you now?”

“Actually…” She bit her lip. “Andy… would you like to go out with me, for a walk around the dog park, right now?”

For a moment, he was floored but gave her that same beautiful smile. “I would love to.”

“Great,” she said, slipping her hand into his. “Then this counts as our first date. Maybe we should get dinner tonight?”

Andy gave her the side eye. “Why does it sound like you’re trying to get me on a second date as soon as possible?”

Cass smiled to herself. 

Good thing she’d already shaved.