Wispa back by popular demand

CADBURY is to bring back the Wispa chocolate bar for good after a campaign on social networking websites demanded its return.

The chocolate company said 20 million bars were sold in seven weeks during a trial limited run last year.

The project to bring back the aerated chocolate bar was started by students at University College Cork and saw thousands join groups on sites such as Facebook and MySpace dedicated to its return.

The Wispa chocolate bar was first brought out in 1981 but sales began to fall in the 1990s and it went out of production in 2003.

Students Joy Allen, Louise Cremin and Emily Hughes started a campaign in February last year to bring back the Wispa.

It resulted in Cadbury bowing to consumer pressure after almost 14,000 fans signed up to online petitions on social networking sites to get the confectionery giant to bring back Ireland’s popular chocolate bar.

Cadbury spokesman Tony Bilsborough said: “Wispa is a true icon loved by its fans everywhere.

“We brought it back temporarily to see if the desire was genuine, but fans are still rallying so we took the decision to bring it back for good,” said Mr Bilsborough.

“We know others have looked at Wispa and tried to copy its success by bringing back other brands, but we don’t believe anyone has managed to recreate the same excitement.”

The bar will return to permanent sale on October 6.