Hershey’s chocolate marketing spotlights a 93 year old in its latest marketing campaign in a great feel good ad about spreading joy. Via the Des Moines Register:
Every day a random act of kindness cheers up a few souls in the small town of Long Grove, Iowa.
It’s a simple thing, but simple things can have lasting impact: Bob Williams hands out king-size Hershey’s milk chocolate bars to lucky folks that pass him on his daily rounds.
He’s done it for more than 15 years, so they call him the “Candy Man” here, because he really can make the sun rise and cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two.
He inspired the giant candy company to send out hundreds of their employees last week to do the same.
Williams’ refrigerator is stocked with 500 candy bars that he rotates for freshness, just in case he doesn’t have enough from his weekly trip to Dollar General, where he gets two cases for $45 on $5 discount days.
“Some wise people say you can’t take it with you. Do you believe that?” asked Williams, 94, who taught high school psychology in nearby Davenport for 39 years. Several years ago, the avid newspaper reader was struck by numerous stories urging folks to “pay it forward,” the title of a 2000 movie that became a cultural kindness movement of sorts.
He started small, he said, by eating them himself. He has a half a bar, a banana and glass of milk every morning.
But he bought three bars, so handed the others out to random folks in the town of 850. More than 6,000 candy bars later, he’s still going strong.