- Alex Palmer

Lindt chocolates is serving up a new marketing spin. The luxury chocolate brand announced today that it’s tapped tennis champion Roger Federer to be its global ambassador.

Though details have not yet been fully worked out, the partnership will likely include print advertisements and a promotion for Lindt’s Les Grande chocolate tablets. The ads would be tied around the fact that the Les Grande chocolates have the most nuts of any chocolate bar (34 percent).

“We say when it comes to tennis, Roger has a lot of victories and when it comes to nut tablets, we have the most nuts,” said Nina Keller, spokesperson for Lindt & Sprungli.

Federer’s ambassador role will be promoted alongside Lindt’s Maitres Chocolatier (“Master Chocolatiers”) global television ads, which feature the company’s chocolate-makers preparing and testing their products. 

The partnership will also likely include a charitable component, bringing attention to the Roger Federer Foundation, an organization that supports education, sports and leisure activities to areas in need, as well as Lindt’s own sustainability efforts in its cocoa farming and production.

Last year, Lindt & Sprungli spent $25 million on advertising, per The Nielsen Company. In the first eight months of this year, it has spent $7 million.

Federer, currently ranked the best player in the world, is the first celebrity spokesperson the 160-year old Lindt & Sprungli has incorporated into its marketing. The Swiss roots of Federer and his championship status made him a natural choice for the world’s leading brand of premium chocolates.

“People will ask ‘chocolate and sports, how does that go together?’” said Keller. “We think Roger is the perfect match for us. He is the number one tennis player, we are the number one chocolate in Switzerland and worldwide, so we think together we’ll make a great couple to promote Swissness all around the globe.”