It is one of the world’s most iconic debating chambers, the arena where prime ministers past and present first honed their oratory skills.
But the Oxford Union has rarely witnessed a fiercer battle as it attempted to win over the hearts and minds – and most importantly, tastebuds – of the nation’s biggest brains at the world’s oldest university.
The motion? That the Bounty bar deserves to keep its place among Celebrations chocolates, a year after the famous – or infamous – ‘taste of paradise’ was controversially omitted by parent company Mars from some of its tubs at Christmas.
Presenter & DJ Chris Stark, making the case for Bounty’s inclusion, said it was ‘more than just a chocolate bar. It’s an experience, a complex mouthfeel’.
“Once enjoyed you are left, or should I say rewarded, with tiny little presents of coconut in your mouth all day. It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” the former Radio 1 presenter told the audience of Oxford University students and esteemed guests.
“When Mars decided to remove Bounty from the Celebrations tub there was outrage. Yes, it may be an acquired taste but then so are students and well, here we are”
“Let’s look at the word. Bounty. Meaning reward, treasure, prize. When I open my Celebrations tub and eye a Bounty that’s exactly as I see it. My little blue and white treasure. My reward. A gift to myself.”
But as anyone who has ever opened a tub of Celebrations anywhere will know (so all of us, then), the Bounty-loving presenter & DJ did not have it all his own way. Far from it.
Opposing the motion that the bar deserves to keep its place among the Snickers, Mars, Twix, Galaxy and all the other Celebrations favourites was Heather Li, a member of the Oxford Union who argued that the last thing a divided nation needed was another source of rancour at Christmas dinner.
“You have your insane political uncle at the table already, do you really need to argue about chocolate too? Bounty bars are singlehandedly undermining the joy and togetherness of the holidays,” she told the Union.
“It’s time to give up on pretending that Bounty has a place in the nation’s hearts. Such a controversial product doesn’t belong in the Celebrations tub, a hallmark of British identity.
“Every bar in the Celebrations box can and should be a celebration [and] Bounty doesn’t quite have what it takes to make the cut. Good chocolate should be bountiful, but it’s time to throw out the leftovers.”
Fellow Oxford student Aidan Woo, who joined Chris Stark in supporting the motion, said the importance of Bounty went beyond mere taste alone. It was about attitude, and that was reflected in the people who devoured them.
“Bounty’s have by far the most personality of any of the chocolates in the Celebrations tub. It’s bold and unapologetic. It doesn’t care what you think about it,’ he said.
“The people that like Bounty’s are the artists, the innovators, the Shakespearian fools who seem the wackiest but are always the wisest, the ones who are courageous enough to be different.
“Getting rid of the Bounty bar in the Celebrations tub would amount to stripping it of its diversity, of cauterising its soul. We need chocolate bars like Bounty to remind us that we all can be, and must be, braver.”
But attitude was no substitute for a chocolate that you actually wanted to eat, said fellow Oxford University student, Gaby Lin.
“When I dip my hand into a Celebrations tub, I want to be rewarded with something that is smooth like the Galaxy, or crunchy like the Malteser. What I don’t want is to be left with a mouthfeel like I’ve been chewing kitty litter.
“Coconut has no place in a chocolate bar. In fact, it has no place in society. We, as a proud nation did not ask for a sprinkle of desiccated coconut on our desserts, in much the same way we never asked for our avocados to be smashed nor our pork to be pulled.
“The coconut as I’m sure you are aware has a thick fibrous husk that’s difficult to break. A warning from mother nature, I believe, to leave well alone.’
Kerry Cavanaugh, of Mars Wrigley’s UK, Business Unit Director, said:
“Some of the brightest minds in the UK debated Bounty’s place in the Celebrations tub and despite it being the year to celebrate our coconutty friend, the Oxford Union has spoken. With the result moving in favour of banishing Bounty from the Celebrations tub, it’s given us a lot to think about as we question his future.”
The Bounty debate has raged for years following a poll by the confectionery company that found Bounty was the last picked chocolate in the Celebration’s tub (52%).
This news resulted in Mars launching a seasonal Bounty Return Scheme where people could exchange unloved Bounty bars for Maltesers in 2021.
Followed by the chocolate giant in 2022 trailing the removal of the controversial coconut chocolate from select Celebrations Tubs in the run up to Christmas, causing mass uproar on social media as Bounty lovers jumped to its defence.
2023 has seen a Bounty celebration with a sell-out Bounty only tub and the recently announced £25,000 solid gold Bounty as Mars ask the British public -would you treasure or trade?
