Hop Aside, Babs: This Year’s Cadbury Bunny Gig Could Go to an Orange County Dog

Hop Aside, Babs: This Year’s Cadbury Bunny Gig Could Go to an Orange County Dog
Fletcher, a 2-year-old golden retriever from Huntington Beach, is a finalist in a nationwide search for the next Cadbury bunny. Courtesy of Ellen Kuhnert
Jack Bradley
Updated:

A Huntington Beach finalist for the Cadbury Bunny Tryouts is not your average bushy-tailed rodent, although he does love carrots.

Each spring, Cadbury holds tryouts for its national Easter commercial—and you don’t have to belong to the rabbit species to qualify.

This year’s top 10 contenders include two bunnies, an alpaca, a frog, a goat, a miniature donkey—and a golden retriever from Huntington Beach.

In his submission photo, Fletcher the dog sports pink bunny ears and a sense of humor. He’s the only finalist from California in a campaign that received more than 12,000 entries nationwide.

“The Cadbury Bunny Tryouts saw a record number of entries thanks to the pet paw-rents showing off their beloved pets that have been so important to them during the past year’s circumstances,” Trevor Jakubek, a Cadbury brand manager, said in a statement.

Fletcher, 2, lives with his owner Ellen Kuhnert, chief nursing officer at Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana.

He’s featured in the campaign tryouts revving the engine and honking the horn of a purple Volkswagen Beetle, decorated with eggs and sparkling sashes.

“He is very excited,” Kuhnert told The Epoch Times.

Polls closed March 17 for the tryouts, and the winner will be announced March 23.

The top pet will be awarded $5,000 and earn the coveted bunny ears.

It will also star in the 2021 Cadbury Clucking Bunny Easter commercial, set to air on TV nationwide.

The Cadbury brand is donating $15,000 to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an animal welfare organization, for the third year running.

The current Cadbury Bunny, Lieutenant Dan, is a treeing walker coonhound.