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I’ve often had to raise an eyebrow at Facebook’s “cause” groups - African warlords aren’t going to chill out just because a bunch of college kids tell them to.  Odds are excellent that no warlords will even read the students’ pleas.  But Cadbury apparently heard - and listened - to demands for the Wispa candy bar’s return.

“There are 93 Bring Back Wispa groups on Facebook with approaching 14,000 members and the rival directories MySpace and Bebo are catching up,” according to The Guardian’s Martin Wainwright.  And the Wispa, which was produced between 1981 and 2003, will return to shelves in Britain in October.

This is no coincidence - Cadbury’s spokesman, Tony Bilsborough, told The Guardian, “We had noticed the web interest for some time.  It reveals a consumer passion which swayed our opinion about relaunching Wispa.”

Bilsborough’s observations seem to be backed by media coverage; from the Chocablog to the BBC, British sources are taking note of social networking’s win.  Granted, “more chocolate” might not be quite as desirable as “world peace,” but it’s something.  And that’s assuming, of course, that this wasn’t a planned marketing campaign, as Branwell Johnson suspects. 

In any case, Cadbury has hinted that the permanence of the Wispa’s comeback will depend on sales.  Hat tip to Andy Beal.