A trio of biscuit-based portraits depicting David Bowie, Sir Trevor McDonald, and Dame Judi Dench have been unveiled to mark the 100th anniversary of McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives.
The artworks were specially created by mosaic artist Ed Chapman following a survey of 2,000 UK adults conducted on behalf of McVitie’s to name the top 10 ’True Original’ British icons of the last 100 years.
The Pladis-owned biscuit brand previously ran a £7.8m marketing campaign called ‘True Originals’ in 2023, with ads featuring TV and film star Martine McCutcheon aimed at rallying the nation to bring back the biscuit break. This was followed later the same year with the ‘There Is Only One’ campaign starring Sir Trevor McDonald, who placed sixth in the top 10 ‘True Originals’ list (full list below).
“As an all-round icon and the True Original of the biscuit world, McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives have long been intertwined with British culture and history, making it only fitting to immortalise other British icons in biscuit form as part of our 100th anniversary celebrations,” commented Benazir Barlet-Batada, marketing director for McVitie’s.
“From Bowie’s first UK number one hit in 1975, to Dame Judi Dench’s Oscar triumph, and Sir Trevor McDonald’s historic knighthood in 1999, these biscuits have been there through the decades, witnessing countless legendary moments. The portraits created by Ed are truly remarkable works of art, and the perfect way to play testament to McVitie’s rich heritage.”
The handcrafted portraits, which took over 180 hours to complete using over 1,000 biscuits, were made using whole and mosaic fragments of McVitie’s Digestives including Milk, Gold, White, and Dark varieties. Gold Digestives were the most recent of these to be launched, in July 2024, while the company has since rolled out Seriously Chocolatey Digestives.
The three portraits will go on display alongside a collection of other biscuit-based artwork at The McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives Experience, an immersive concept store set to open from 2 to 5 May at the Below the Lights event space on Regent Street in London. The experience is free to enter (no booking required) and will see visitors explore an interactive timeline tracing how McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives have remained a staple of British culture for a century, while also enjoying exclusive chocolate digestive creations at the Biscuit Bar and getting their hands on limited-edition merch.
Pladis has also launched its latest multi-million pound campaign, ’100 Years of the Nation’s Greatest Invention’, which humourously places the Chocolate Digestive – first created in 1925 – alongside the world’s most groundbreaking innovations such as the wheel, mobile phones, and sliced bread. New packaging helps to highlight the centennial celebrations, and includes a promotion via on-pack QR scan which offers £100 every 100 minutes to participating consumers.
More than 80m packs of Chocolate Digestives are purchased every year in the UK, whilst Pladis exports almost 10m packs to around 50 countries. Roughly 5.8bn packs have been sold over the last century – enough to wrap around the circumference of the Earth over 43 times. At its peak, the manufacturer makes around 13m McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives a day at its Harlesden site in northwest London.
Around a third of UK households regularly buy McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives [Kantar data, 52w to 23 February 2025], which topped the sales chart for branded sweet biscuits in 2024 at 80.7m packs [Nielsen data]. Limited edition flavours introduced since the noughties include Marmalade on Toast Chocolate, Milk Chocolate Mince Pie, Strawberries & Cream Chocolate, and Milk Chocolate Lemon Drizzle.
Last month, a series of leadership shakeups at Pladis included the stepping down of global CEO Salman Amin as well as the appointment of Mete Buyurgan as its new managing director for UK & Ireland, replacing David Murray who was promoted to global chief commercial officer.
Top 10 ‘True Original’ British Icons (as voted for by surveyed members of the public):
- Queen Elizabeth II
- Sir David Attenborough
- David Bowie
- Diana, Princess of Wales
- Dame Judi Dench
- Sir Trevor McDonald
- Freddie Mercury
- Stephen Hawking
- Margaret Thatcher
- John Lennon
No comments yet