Password for watching the film: Cannes

Standard European Union directives govern Branded Entertainment in Greece. A TV show that has product placement has to declare it before hand and with special signage on the program. There has never been a feature film produced or co-produced by a brand before in Greece. Only sponsored films, or films with product placement have existed before.

Lacta, Greece's favourite chocolate, is particularly popular with the nation’s love sick teens. When they can’t find love, they reach for Lacta to fill the emotional gap.

But since 2012, the entire nation's search for happiness has been put on hold. So amidst the biggest economic crisis in Europe, Lacta wanted to go beyond fulfilling young people in Greece with its taste. It wanted to inspire them to chase after their dreams!

Lacta asked people to submit their stories of unfulfilled love via Facebook. Three of these dramas would form the basis for a feature film. However, this film would have one big difference. Lacta would make sure that this time, the protagonists would find the happy ending they yearned for.

The film, titled “Love in the end”, would be shot around Greece shot, the Greek islands and Istanbul, starring 6 upcoming young actors and released on Valentine’s day.

To build anticipation, a 20-minute preview was released on YouTube, teasing one of the storylines and leaving viewers on a cliffhanger they could only resolve by watching the film.

An Alternate Reality Game ensued, where viewers helped the short film's heroine find her lost love through a series of clues on the web. Winners had the opportunity to attend the film's premiere.

People first learned about "Love in the end", through Lacta's Facebook page.

Then a teaser TV spot aired in November 2012 that directed people to the campaign website (loveintheend.gr/thessaloniki) to discover "What happens next..."

There, audiences could watch a 20 minute preview of the feature film, 4 months ahead of its theatrical release. The short film told half of one of the stories, ending on a cliffhanger that could only be resolved by watching the film at cinemas.

A trailer was then released in cinemas and online and was promoted on Facebook and YouTube with paid media.

The short film was seen by 17% of the Greek Internet population, creating a huge buzz on Social media and a familiarity with the movie's storyline comparable to that of movie sequels.

At the same time, Lacta's Facebook page became the most popular page in Greece with more than 700k fans and chocolate sales grew by 9.9%.

Even the title song, became a huge hit, reaching the number 2 spot on the Greek iTunes chart and remaining at the top of the Greek AirPlay for 7 weeks!

The movie opened spectacularly on Valentine's day to the biggest opening night of any Greek film in the last 5 years, claiming 65% of the all movie tickets sold for the night.

By the end of the first weekend, "Love in the end" had the 3rd biggest opening weekend of the decade for any Greek film. (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/greece/?yr=2013&wk=7&p=.htm)

The film stayed at the top of the box-office for a second week and as of April 2013, it is the 3rd biggest movie at the yearly box-office with 1 million euros in gross revenue.