Cadbury Dairy Milk took to the ever-popular activation spot of the Southbank this week with an animatronic cow in order to promote its Buttons brand’s bovine adoption scheme.

It took a team more than 6,000 hours to create the aptly-named ‘Buttons’. Her qualities, according to brand manager David McDermott, include “a fully swishing tail” and a “life-sized udder”.

“We really want to showcase the fun and different personalities that cows can have,” said McDermott. “We know from research that we’ve done that a lot of families haven’t actually met a cow before so we thought it would be nice to meet [one] in an urban environment.”

He added that, in a Titanic-style twist, Cadbruy will be hosting a life sketching class with Buttons at the Barbican later this month.

Cadbury Buttons’ on-pack promotion is offering families the chance to adopt one of 20 cows from its Bristol farms. The brand hopes the initial will remind the public that Cadbury chocolate is made from fresh ingredients from Britain and Ireland.

The Mondelez chocolatier found itself in the middle of a storm in a teacup in April, when its decision to drop the word ‘Easter’ from its annual egg hunt ended in public derision of the archbishop of York and Theresa “daughter of a vicar” May.

Video created by Jamie McMurray