This Unusual Box of Chocolates Asks What Kind of Love Is and Isn't Healthy

A box of chocolates, especially around Valentine's Day, is usually seen as an uncomplicated expression of love. But this particular box goes quite a bit deeper. 

Designed by TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, it's meant to be a provocative educational experience about the nature of love itself—and to encourage conversation about aspects of healthy as well as unhealthy relationships. 

The agency worked with chocolatiers to create eight pieces of chocolate for the box, each one designed as a kind of metaphor for positive or negative dynamics in a relationship. There are four healthy and four unhealthy relationship behaviors represented: Respect, Honesty, Equality, Independence, Sabotage, Obsession, Isolation and Manipulation. 

For example, Respect is a strong, dark chocolate decorated with gold saffron, representing the gold standard in a relationship. Manipulation, on the other hand, is a piece filled with hard, sticky caramel that takes control of your jaw and is hard to swallow. 

The project was done for The One Love Foundation, which was founded in 2010 following the murder of Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia student who died at the hands of a former boyfriend.  

See descriptions for the eight pieces below: 

"The more we learn about love, the stronger our relationships will be," the foundation says on the website. "The eight confections in this box of chocolates represent the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships. Explore how each chocolate can teach you to #LoveBetter."

One Love is running a contest to give away a limited number of the boxes. The project follows another creative Valentine's Day stunt a year ago, in which a pop-up Valentine’s Day store in New York City warned shoppers about the darker side of love. 

CREDITS

TBWA\Chiat\Day New York
Chief Creative Officer: Chris Beresford-Hill
Executive Creative Director: Al Merry
Head of Design: Chris Rowson
Creative Director, Art: Mike Blanch
Associate Creative Director, Copy: Shannon Murphy
Senior Designer: Alex Lumain
Senior Designer: Robyn Makinson
Designer: Gina Pido
Designer: John Smith
Junior Designer: Mert Avadya
Photographer: Bonnie Wang
Studio Manager: Von Harris
Head of Production: John Doris
Executive Producer: Tina Lam
Executive Producer: Jen Vladimirsky
Senior Interactive Producer: Steven Kreuch
Associate Producer: Sean Riojas
Producer: Sydney Richardson
Post Producer, RedSlash: Pietra Cangialosi
Editor, RedSlash: Neil Miller
Senior Cinematographer/Editor: Jon Lynn
Creative/Producer, Social Content: Andrew Nethery
Front End Developer/Animator: Ekaterina Danilova
Director of Business Affairs: Jennifer Bilyk
Business Affairs Manager: Anne-Camille Charpie
Senior Talent Manager: Eileen Sostre
Group Account Director: Carrie Lipper
Account Director: Mark Donohue
Account Manager: Jeannine Yawn
Planning Director: Jonathan Deves

Box Manufacturer: Foxtone Packaging
Chocolate Developer: Scoozi Events NYC
Food Stylist: Sugar Couture
Production Assistance: Rebel & Rogue

Ruckus
Production Company: Ruckus
Director: Camilla Belle
Director of Photography: Nico Aguilar
Executive Producer: Greg Jones
Executive Producer: Desiree Laufasa
Line Producer: Anna Shkolnikov
Production Coordinator: Spencer LeClaire

Company3 (Teaser Films Only)
Color: Company3
Colorist: Parker Jarvie
Vice President/Short Form: Ashley McKim
Director of Production/Short Form: Tom Gehring

Human Worldwide
Music: Human Worldwide
Executive Producer: James Wells
Sr. Producer: Craig Caniglia

Mr. Bronx Audio (Launch Film Only)
Audio: Mr. Bronx Audio
Mixer/Sound Designer: Eric Hoffman
Executive Producer: Molly Burke

Sourcetop
Website Development: Sourcetop
CEO: Michael Tardif
CTO: Abu Zakaria

One Love Foundation
Chief Executive Officer: Katie Hood
Managing Director, Marketing & Communications: Monica Rowe
Senior Manager, Content & Communications: Serena Sidawi
Digital & Content Coordinator: Jalesa Tucker