Ferrero Rocher

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Ferrero Rocher are small, spherical sweets made by Ferrero SpA.

The sweets consist of a whole roasted hazelnut encased in a thin wafer shell filled with nutella/hazelnut cream and covered in milk chocolate and chopped hazelnuts. The sweets are individually packaged in a gold-coloured wrapper.

Promoted to a downmarket audience as an aspirational brand, the most celebrated advertisements for Ferrero Rocher showed an ambassador's butler serving huge plates of the sweets to his guests. It was originally an Italian advertisement, and the English version adopted a deliberately kitsch and tongue-in-cheek style. The opening voiceover, "The Ambassador's receptions are noted in society for their hosts' exquisite taste", together with the comments of "Eccellente" and "Monsieur, with these Ferrero Rocher, you're really spoiling us" from guests at the reception, remain widely recognised in the UK. The advertisement has been parodied by a number of comedians. Indeed, the concept of a butler wandering around holding a silver tray with a mountain of Ferrero Rocher has become a trope, and a popular stereotype of diplomacy in general.

Many people see it as a rival to Toffifee.^{[citation needed]}

In Hong Kong, Ferrero Rocher is a very popular gift during the holidays, especially during Chinese New Year. The Chinese associate the packaging with good fortune and wealth since the chocolate is wrapped in gold paperfoil. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References to the television advert

• "The ambassador is really spoiling us with this one!"^[1]
• "The assembled press could only have thought: 'Ambassador, with these cack-handed spy antics, you are really spoiling us'."^[2]
• "Like the fabled Ferrero Rocher ambassador, Nintendo is really spoiling us this year."^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ The Meters: Rejuvenation. bbc.co.uk (2003-09-15). Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
2. ^ Walsh, Nick Paton. "Rock of agents", The Guardian, 2006-01-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
3. ^ Stuart, Keith (2006-05-09). The pre-E3 round-up: part one. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.