Louie the raccoon named winner of 2024 Cadbury Bunny tryouts

Louie from Florida is the first-ever raccoon rescue to be named Cadbury Bunny Tryouts winner

In honour of Easter candy, Cadbury has named its first-ever raccoon as the winner of this year’s Cadbury Bunny Tryouts photo contest.

The beloved chocolate company - known for its famous creme-filled chocolate eggs - recently held the sixth annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts, in which pet owners across the United States submit photos of their pets on social media in the hopes they will be chosen as the next Cadbury bunny.

Throughout March, fans voted on Instagram in a bracket-style competition for their favourite pet, marking the first time the annual contest was held on social media. Out of 32 contestants - including cats, dogs, horses, a donkey, and a goat - Louie the raccoon was declared the winner of the Cadbury Bunny Tryouts.

Louie is a two-year-old raccoon from Miami, Florida, the company shared in a press release. He was rescued by his owner Jaime Arslan in 2021 after he had been deemed unfit to live in the wild. As the grand prize winner, Louie will receive $7,000 in prize money and have a starring role in the 2025 Cadbury Bunny Tryouts commercial.

“Each year we look forward to crowning a new Cadbury Bunny, especially this year where we engaged fans in a new way through our bracket-style competition. It was incredible to see pet lovers getting in on the fun,” said Natalie Shuntich, senior associate marketing manager at The Hershey Company, in a press release.

The Hershey Company has owned the rights to manufacture Cadbury chocolate in the US since 1988. It banned imports of British-made Cadbury chocolate in 2015.

“Witnessing how fans participated in each wave of voting, and the loving support for our thirty-cute finalists from Cadbury fans across the U.S. is a testament to the love for the Cadbury brand,” Shuntich added.

Louie the raccoon has joined the ranks of past Cadbury Bunny Tryouts winners, including last year’s winner, Crash the rescue cat; Annie Rose the therapy dog (2022); Betty the frog (2021); Lieutenant Dan the Treeing Walker Coonhound (2020); and Henri the English Bulldog (2019).

“We’re thrilled that Louie has been chosen as the winner of this year’s Cadbury Bunny Tryouts - we are longtime fans of the Cadbury brand and are honored to see Louie join the long legacy of incredible Cadbury Bunnies,” said Arslan, Louie’s owner. “Louie’s TV debut in Cadbury’s 2025 commercial can’t come soon enough!”