Advertising Review: And all because the Nineties woman still loves Milk Tray

Perhaps the biggest challenge for any successful advertising campaign is knowing when to call it a day. The ads may be long-running and well- loved, but do they still have an impact with the consumer? And, more importantly, do they still say what the advertiser wants to say about a particular brand?

Such was the debate at Cadbury when it decided to bump off the Man in Black. This chisel-faced action man risked life and limb to deliver a box of Milk Tray throughout the Seventies and Eighties. We saw him scale cliffs, ski precipices and swim through perilous seas to slip into a mystery woman's room and leave a box of chocs on her bed before departing.

Meet his successor: a man of average build, mousey hair and an indiscriminate middle-European accent. This is Milk Tray man Nineties-style.

The action takes place at night. Someone creeps into a house through patio doors. Past potted foliage, an ethnic mask and a white sofa, sharing the intruder's viewpoint we pad towards the staircase. Upstairs we slip into a room where, on a double bed, there sits the bait: a box of Milk Tray.

The intruder, a brunette in black evening dress, is then revealed as she reaches for the box. "Hello Tiger," croons a peculiar voice from the shadows. She turns to see her captor close the bedroom door. Unperturbed, she digs a neatly manicured hand into the chocs and pops one into her mouth. He watches with a mixture of uncertainty and awe.

So there you have it. No James Bond exploits but lots of suspense, nevertheless. She's the predator who is happy to be caught. He is the captor who's not so sure he's in control - a wily seducer who'd rather use brain to catch his bird, than brawn. And all this in the spare room of a house whose interior wouldn't look out of place in Chigwell.

A delicate blend, then. For this new commercial, devised by London agency Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper, balances the mystery of the original campaign with a more contemporary feel.