The Discontinued Nestlé White Chocolate Bar That Still Gives Fans 'Sweet Dreams'

Throughout advertising history, there have been some jingles that foodies just can't seem to forget, like the McDonald's Big Mac song from the mid '70s or that of the surrealist Filet-O-Fish commercial from 2009 that we still haven't repressed. Today, we're shining the spotlight on Nestlé Alpine White — or, more enduringly, the everlasting effect its commercial song had on consumers who lived through the late 1980s. 

The discontinued chocolate bar featured white chocolate dotted with almonds. Its elevated packaging with a clean, streamlined design was inherently elegant and made white chocolate feel fancy — even though, in reality, white chocolate doesn't contain any real cacao solids at all. According to the wrapper, Nestlé's Alpine White bar was made "True to Old World Tradition," comprising just five ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter, milk, almonds, and vanillin.  Apparently, the simple combination was totally effective. A Reddit thread in r/nostalgia dedicated to Nestlé Alpine White draws impassioned comments like, "The best chocolate bar I've ever had! I think about it often, even though I was a child when it was discontinued." Other longtime fans agree, "I would give anything to go back to the '80s or early '90s and eat just one more Alpine white. I get cravings for them often and have tried so many other white chocolate bars but nothing compares." 

More than the ingredients, however, the real star was arguably its dramatic, epic commercial. Nestlé Alpine White's television ad is a synthesizer-soaked, absurdist pipe dream straight out of the '80s cultural zeitgeist. 

In the style of a sultry, kitschy 1980s rock ballad (think: George Michael's "Careless Whisper") , a voiceover croons, "Sweet dreams you can't resist. N-E-S-T-L-E-S. A dream as sweet as this. N-E-S-T-L-E-S." A woman draped in billowing white fabric stands in the (ostensibly Alpine) mountains. A manicured man wears a white turtleneck and gazes upward toward the heavens. A figure skater twirls in a tight pirouette. The intensely atmospheric ad was based on the artistic stylings of American painter Maxfield Parrish, and ultimately dared to ask: "What would happen if a 30-second cable slot was a cinematic masterpiece?" Half a century later, viewers still remember it clearly.

Comments on a YouTube video of the iconic ad share, "When this commercial came on, we'd stop what we were doing just to watch it." Others echo, "If this was a full length '80s pop song not just a commercial, it would have been a top 10 hit." The band Faith No More even covered the jingle during live performances. The tune was so timeless and stirring, in fact, that it ultimately outlived the candy bar from which it was inspired. Nestlé Alpine White ran from 1986 to 1993, and by 1994, it was nowhere to be found. Considering the treat has been gone since the early 1990s, it doesn't look like candy fans should hold their breath for a comeback. 

These days, Tony's Chocolonely is our favorite store-bought white chocolate bar brand. But, for a blast from the past, one fan on Reddit suggests, "Get a bag of nestle white chocolate chips, pulverize up some almonds, combine into [a] pan to melt, then pour it into a mold to cool. That's what I do, because I also have nostalgia over this."