CGAG Campaign

Chewing Gum Action Group

Making change stick

The improper disposal of chewing gum is a significant issue for many local authorities as it’s difficult and expensive to remove from pavements and public spaces. It is also an emotive issue for residents as it makes where they live look unattractive. The Chewing Gum Action Group (CGAG) was set up in 2003 to help local authorities tackle gum litter. Together, they are working hard to tackle the problem in the most positive and sustainable way – by changing behaviour. Bray Leino has been CGAG’s creative agency since 2005. Campaigns have mainly focused on enforcement – warning people that they could face a fine if they drop their gum on the streets – and have proven to be very effective in reducing gum litter (as data from pre and post campaign gum counts have shown).

Changing The Message
For 2012

However, with events like the London Olympic Games and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on the horizon, it was felt that 2012 was a time to utilise a more positive, inclusive message. CGAG wanted to develop a campaign that would change the behaviour of people who drop gum by encouraging them to have pride in where they live.

Do Your Country Proud

Our agency team worked alongside their media counterparts to create and deliver a campaign that would evoke pride in a light hearted and humorous way, illustrating that everyone has a part to play in keeping our streets free of gum and presenting a cleaner Great Britain to the world in 2012.

The creative used the Olympic Games as inspiration, showing models in 'event' poses dumping their gum in the bin. It clearly demonstrated, in the most simple terms possible, what we were asking the audience to do – bin their gum – and why we were asking them to do it.

This was supported by a simple, highly inclusive campaign line of “DO YOUR COUNTRY PROUD…BIN YOUR GUM.”

The Result?

The campaign went live in March 2012 and ran for 4 weeks across 15 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. It ran across various media formats, from bus sides to A1 posters, lamp-post flags, digi vans and ATM animations.

Because other Olympic themed campaigns weren't in-market by our launch date, our creative achieved maximum cut through, getting the message high levels of attention and exposure before it got lost amidst the 'Olympic wallpaper'.

Blogs were written in praise of the eye-catching creative, and overall the campaign achieved a reduction in gum litter of up to 93% across Britain.

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