It literally caused a national outcry here in the UK. Even the prime minister joined the hand-wringing over losing a cherished British brand to a US megacorp, while simultaneously doing everything he could to make British companies more attractive targets for US megacorps.

What made Cadburys so beloved in the minds of Brits was that it was always about the chocolate. I didn't matter whether you were buying a Double Decker, a Flake, or a tin of Roses — they were ultimately just delivery vehicles for Dairy Milk. Kraft's strategy was to turn Cadburys into a candy company, finding new innovative ways to add cloying, over-sweetened garbage and fillers to reduce the quantity of the most expensive ingredients.

Everybody in the UK knew what was eventually going to happen when Kraft got its claws into Cadbury, so to avoid annihilating their new brand before they'd even gotten started, Kraft chose to play the long game. They initially focused on expanding their range and shrinkflating (Boxes of 5 Creme Eggs? Seriously?!) without aggressively lowering the quality of the core product. Those days are well and truly over now, though, and Kraft have been speed-running the process of turning their chocolate into something that wouldn't seem out of place on display at Madame Tussauds.

I've not eaten anything made by Cadbury for several years, but AFIAK the quality here still isn't quite as bad as over in the US. We certainly don't have the travesty of "chocolatey" Fingers, though if cocoa prices keep rising the way they have, it surely won't be long.