Florida pet becomes first raccoon to be named Cadbury Bunny

March 26 (UPI) -- This year's Cadbury Bunny is a raccoon named Louie, the first of his species to earn the title, the candy company said.

The company announced Louie the Raccoon, a 2-year-old pet from Miami, Fla., was the winner of the sixth annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts and will have a role in the 2025 Cadbury Bunny Tryouts commercial, an Easter tradition for the brand.

Louie's owner, Jaime, rescued him in 2021 when he was deemed unfit to live in the wild, Cadbury said.

The raccoon won the hearts of voters on Instagram with his friendly face and his special skill: creating paintings to be sold to benefit wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centers.

"Each year, we look forward to crowning a new Cadbury Bunny, especially this year where we engaged fans in a new way through our bracket-style competition. It was incredible to see pet lovers getting in on the fun," said Natalie Shuntich, senior associate marketing manager at Cadbury's parent, The Hershey Co.

"Witnessing how fans participated in each wave of voting, and the loving support for our thirty-cute finalists from Cadbury fans across the U.S. is a testament to the love for the Cadbury brand," she said.

Louie follows in the footsteps of previous Cadbury Bunnies including Crash the Rescue Cat, Annie Rose the Therapy Dog, Betty the Frog, Lieutenant Dan the Treeing Walker Coonhound and Henri the English Bulldog.