Tony’s Chocolonely And Cj Hendry Unveil Immersive Red Popup Featuring A $1 Mystery Box Concept
The popup emulates the unequally divided nature of the cocoa industry, with a $1 mystery box concept to deliver the impact company’s message about inequality
Tony’s Chocolonely, the impact company on a mission to end exploitation in cocoa, is opening the doors to a one‑of‑a‑kind immersive experience, inviting fans to step inside Tony’s Only Red World with a bold new “Valentony” installation created in collaboration with contemporary artist Cj Hendry just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Blending art, chocolate, and pure sensory overload, the experience transforms Tony’s iconic red into a fully saturated environment—an invitation to escape the chaos of everyday life and indulge in a world that’s unapologetically rich, playful, and unexpected.
The bold, bright, playful elements counter-balance the heavy message at the core of this popup. For just $1 fans can get a mystery-box-like mystery bag featuring “at least” one Tony’s bar in one of their irresistible flavors (which one is a mystery), and, as the company teased, fans never know what else might be in store. The brand’s popular chocolate bars lead them to become the fastest-growing premium chocolate brand in the US last year and regularly retail for anywhere from $4.95 to $6.99. The unequally divided nature of the mystery bags are meant to communicate the unequally divided nature of the cocoa industry with a spoonful of sugar.
“The cocoa industry is bitterly unfair,” says Aidaly Sosa Walker, VP of Marketing at Tony’s Chocolonely North America. “Cocoa farmers work tirelessly at physically demanding jobs, all for less than a dollar a day on average, meanwhile the industry is worth billions. We tell that story everywhere – from the manifesto printed inside every wrapper, to the unequally divided design of the bars, to our Only Red – and now with this popup. But we wanted to do it in a way that feels as energizing as our brand color and as sweet as our chocolate, because ultimately we wanted to deliver a love letter to the industry, a vision of how things should be: fair, sweet, and only unequal in terms of how much of your chocolate you’re willing to share.”
