The Month of Love floods our stores and feeds with grand romantic gifts to spoil our loved ones. But in South Africa, some of those gifts carry a darker truth. In many abusive relationships, they become apologies, sugarcoating harm and reinforcing the idea that love must be protected at all costs. So, we turned the most iconic one - chocolate - into a vehicle for truth.

We partnered with a culinary artist to create custom chocolates embedded with a hidden message drawn from the language of emotional manipulation and control. What looked romantic revealed something far more unsettling – showing that abuse doesn’t always look like abuse
We put this truth directly into people’s hands, by sending the chocolates to influencers who advocate against gender-based violence. As they unwrapped them, the hidden messages surfaced in real time, sparking conversation and turning a familiar gesture into a moment of discomfort..

At first glance, the chocolates look like familiar romantic gestures until their design revealed a hidden, unsettling message(control). The design shows the thin line between treat and manipulation.