Cake or Biscuit? Why Jaffa Cakes Is Finally Breaking Its Silence
“Say ‘biscuit’ one more time, we dare you,” “We’re a cake, you biscuit,” “Clue’s on the box, bruv” – you may have noticed these bold billboards pop up across town, prompting a mix of sneers, smiles and silent contemplation. These eye-catching messages are the latest from McVitie’s in collaboration with TBWA\London, featuring a series of OOH executions and social films that interact with commuters, by cheekily asking them to think about the consistency of the beloved Jaffa Cake.
Blending humour with a touch of passive aggression, the campaign has resonated with passersby, (re)igniting debates about whether Jaffa Cakes are indeed cakes and introducing the brand to new audiences.
LBB writer Olivia Atkins sits down with TBWA\London’s ECD, Paul Jordan, to explore the familiar tropes, joyfulness and brand strategy behind this inventive campaign, offering insight into the enduring legacy of Jaffa Cakes.
LBB> The cake/biscuit debate has raged on for decades, why did now feel like the right time to revive (and clarify) this conundrum?
Paul> The cake/biscuit debate may have raged on for decades but Jaffa Cakes themselves had been a little quiet over the past few years. So, the time had come for the brand to make some noise again.
LBB> What was the brief that you received from Jaffa Cakes and how did it inspire the campaign's direction?
Paul> The brief was to re-ignite the latent love that many established consumers have for Jaffa but also to appeal to a new, younger gen-z consumer who may not be so familiar with us. It was these two audiences that directly informed the campaign. We leaned into the cake/biscuit debate that is always bubbling under in culture but did it with a distinctly gen-z tone of voice and attitude. This way we appealed to both audiences.
LBB> The OOH executions are really punchy and impactful. How did this format affect the campaign's tone and messaging style?
Paul> OOH felt like the perfect format for this type of message. It’s a great medium for big, bold statements like these. We really pushed the tone of the executions to be as punchy as possible but also researched the lines as we didn't want to overstep the mark. In the end, we were pleasantly surprised by how far consumers were happy to let us go with the tone. They instinctively got the gag and the playful provocative tone, so, at the end of the day – no one took offence.
LBB> Talk me through the design process and why you opted for humour?
Paul> The design process was quite straightforward really. The wood block type treatment felt like the natural approach for these bold, punchy headlines. We also wanted to show the unique shape of the Jaffa Cake in all its iconic glory. Of course, the client wanted to see a bite taken out of the Jaffa to show a delicious-looking cross section of the sponge, jelly and chocolate for appetite appeal. That’s when we realised that we could do something more original by showing a wedge missing. We loved that this still showed the Jaffa looking great but also was a playful way to prove our “It’s a Cake” point. It felt funny and clever and efficient – even the product shot was making the argument more water tight.
LBB> Any challenges or considerations you had to make throughout the process for it to work as an OOH activation?
Paul> With the two-part execution, “Stand here if you think it’s a cake. Stand here if you’re an idiot”, we had quite a challenge finding the right OOH sites where we could put both billboards side by side in a spot where people would be naturally standing. But we worked around these and a train platform seemed like the perfect backdrop.
LBB> The campaign feels distinctly in the same vein as previous brand iterations, why did it feel important to retain this sense of familiarity?
Paul> Jaffa Cakes, as the only cake in the biscuit aisle, are proudly different. The best Jaffa Cakes advertising over the years has managed to capture some of this unapologetic nature. Like the iconic ‘Full Moon, Half Moon, Total Eclipse’ commercial, hopefully this new campaign earns its place among Jaffa Cakes’ rich advertising heritage.
