Jaffa Cakes cooks up Cola Bottle flavour

The special build was created by TBWA\London to drive 'talkability' and target Gen Z audiences

By Creative Salon

30 August 2024

With the launch of a visually striking special build by TBWA\London, McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes is inviting consumers to experience its latest deliciously quirky Cola Bottle flavour treats. Why Cola Bottle Jaffas? Why the Jaffa not? Because Jaffa Cakes claims it is what it does best - different, original, and proudly weird.

Set in the vibrant streets of Brixton, London, the eye-catching, brightly-coloured special build has been created and designed by TBWA, built by Grand Visual and Build Hollywood and planned by Talon and MG OMD. The build features life-like machinery, complete with an array of tubes, pipes, and mechanisms. At the heart of this confectionary spectacle, passersby can pull a massive handle to witness the magical process that transforms classic cola bottles into scrumptious Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle right before their eyes - and then try one of the tasty treats.

The campaign is designed to drive talkability, targeting Gen Z audiences with its daring and original approach, offering a fun and memorable way for Londoners to sample the new flavour and join in on the brand’s whimsical world of innovation. As part of the activation an OOH campaign features playful images of dancing gummy cola bottles entering at one end of a Jaffa Cake box and emerging as the new Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle from the other.

The ads carry the cheeky taglines: “Jaffas Gonna Jaff” and “The Pairing No One Asked For (You’re Welcome)” before concluding with the brand’s statement, “Never apologise, never explain.”

Adam Woolf, marketing director for McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes commented: "Jaffa Cakes has always been about creating unique and delightful treats that surprise our consumers. The new Jaffa Cola Bottle flavour embodies our ‘never apologise, never explain’ ethos, celebrating our tradition of originality and creativity. We're excited to see people engaging with the special build in Brixton and experience the fun and flavour of our latest creation."

The new work follows the latest successful Jaffa Cakes campaign from TBWA\London, which saw the Outdoor campaign ‘We’re a cake, you biscuit’ achieve the “highest score for long-term effectiveness for out-of-home advertising” according to System One 1’s rankings, the work achieved double the norm, with 88 per cent brand recall.

Paul Jordan executive creative director at TBWA\London, said: “Jaffa Cakes Cola Bottle flavour isn't going to be to everyone’s taste. But that’s just the way they like it. Jaffa Cakes have always divided opinion in a bold and unapologetic manner. So at TBWA we decided to help launch these Limited Edition Jaffas in an equally original way - by combining a special build OOH with sampling and Faux OOH. It’s all designed to give Jaffanatics a playful treat for their eyes and their mouths.”