BBH Singapore innovates Unthinkables! chewing gum
Chewing gum is famously banned in Singapore. To mark the nation’s 60th birthday, BBH Singapore has introduced what could be the country’s first legal chewing gum: a product called Unthinkables!. It looks, tastes, and chews like gum, but is made without a gum base — a deviously lateral solution that makes it technically legal. The project is a statement about the creative agency’s appetite for impossible ideas: those that make the unthinkable possible and tackle business problems with fame-driving solutions.
BBH Singapore launches the ‘chewing gum’ for the nation’s 60th anniversary
Sinagpore’s water-soluable ‘gum’
Collaborating with sugarcrafter Irene Chan of Oni Cupcakes, BBH Singapore’s in-house Innovation Lab prototyped the perfect chewing gum, Unthinkables!. After trying over 60 combinations of flavors and chewiness-enhancing ingredients, they arrived at a final product: a hyper-chewy, flavored candy that is fully water-soluble. This ingenious solution sidesteps the country’s strict gum ban while making a bold statement about creativity’s potential to solve problems in unexpected ways.
the water-soluble ‘chewing gum’ is technically legal in the country
This unique gum is a showcase in disguise. Each piece comes with a printed QR code that links to an equally unthinkable piece of work from the agency’s portfolio. These include Heinekicks, a viral and award-winning campaign for Heineken that turned sneakers into beer-filled art, and Trapped, a full-fledged horror film created to launch travel insurance for Income.
As Sascha Kuntze, Chief Creative Officer at BBH Singapore, put it, ‘Creativity lets us solve problems by making the impossible possible.‘ Unthinkables! is a playfully subversive way to spark conversations about the creative potential of these ideas, proving that even in the most tightly regulated environments, innovation and wit can find a way.
Singapore banned the sale and import of chewing gum in 1992
the ‘chewing gum’ ban has become synonymous with Singapore
Unthinkables! looks like gum, tastes like gum and chews like gum, but is it gum?
importing chewing gum can lead to a $10,000 fine in Singapore
Singapore’s first chewing gum
Unthinkables! proves innovation and wit can overcome tightly regulated environments
each piece comes with a printed QR code that links to an equally unthinkable work from the agency
the hyper-chewy, flavored candy melts like magic
Unthinkables! is made with no gum base, and is soluble in water
Unthinkables! borrows the design language of candy advertising to brand the agency
project info:
agency: BBH Singapore
product: Unthinkables!
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