Maynards Bassetts Sends Jelly Babies to the Brink in £4m VCCP Push
Maynards Bassetts has launched 'Set the Juice Loose', a £4m OOH-led campaign via VCCP that inches jelly babies and wine gums toward a wall of spikes in dramatic lift and poster takeovers across five UK cities.
A £4m Bet on Big, Bold Outdoor
Mondelez-owned Maynards Bassetts is back with 'Set the Juice Loose', a £4m campaign led by VCCP for its wine gums and jelly babies. The work centres on bold, kitchen-utensil-themed posters — 'Corkscrew', 'Juicer', 'Blender' — and bespoke shopping-centre lift takeovers.
The stunt is the star: as the lift doors close, a jelly baby or wine gum inches toward a wall of spikes, playing the brand's 'juiciness' for suspense and comedy. It runs across Brent Cross, Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester and Watford to the end of September, backed by social.
Why Distinctive Beats Tasteful
In a crowded confectionery aisle, the enemy is not dislike — it is indifference. Maynards' answer is high-impact, slightly absurd outdoor that is impossible to scroll past because it is physically in your path. Attention is the first job of any ad, and format-native OOH still does it cheaply per impression.
The campaign also shows the value of a single, ownable idea — 'juiciness' dramatised — rather than a generic 'tasty sweets' message. Distinctive assets and a repeatable device are what let a heritage brand stay top-of-mind without reinventing itself each season.
The Lesson for Smaller Budgets
£4m buys scale, but the principle is free: pick one true product truth and dramatise it as vividly as you can. A local business can turn a single strong claim into a memorable window display, van wrap or event moment that punches above its spend.
The trap to avoid is spreading a small budget across many bland messages. One bold, well-placed idea, repeated, beats a scatter of forgettable ones — especially in physical spaces where competitors are not fighting for the same attention.
Quick FAQ
What is Maynards Bassetts' 'Set the Juice Loose' campaign?
It's a £4m, VCCP-created campaign for Maynards Bassetts wine gums and jelly babies, built around bold outdoor posters and shopping-centre lift takeovers that dramatise the sweets' 'juiciness'.
Where is the Maynards campaign running?
The out-of-home activity runs across five UK cities — Brent Cross, Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester and Watford — through the end of September 2026, supported by social.
Why do brands still invest in out-of-home advertising?
Out-of-home delivers broad, hard-to-skip reach at a low cost per impression and can create standout, shareable brand moments — especially with high-impact formats like lift and poster takeovers.
Maynards understands that in the sweet aisle, being liked matters less than being noticed. A daft, brilliant piece of outdoor that stops you mid-stride is worth more than a tasteful ad no one remembers. Bravery, not budget, is what makes work like this work. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The takeaway: the opposite of a great ad isn't a bad ad — it's an invisible one.
What's the one product truth you could dramatise boldly enough that people can't look away?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Grocery Gazette, FoodBev and LBBOnline.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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