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- Gumball 3000
Since 1999 Gumball 3000 has successfully combined art, automobiles, music and film to create a unique aspirational lifestyle brand. Headed by Maximillion Cooper and Julie Brangstrup, the Gumball 3000 Group now operates 8 companies with offices in Europe and the United States. The brand has grown organically from its origins as a notorious car rally, into a successful global lifestyle and entertainment group. In 2007, Forbes magazine valued the Gumball 3000 brand at over $200 million.
By the age of 25, Maximillion Cooper had already experienced and achieved many things; having studied fashion design at St. Martins College of Art; appeared in adverts for Giorgio Armani; competed at freestyle BMX; raced in the Sportscar World Championships; toured as a skateboarder; directed music videos; made an audacious attempt to buy a Formula 1 team; and graduated from Law School; a regular career was not likely to ensue. Realising these assets, and with a unique ability to transcend cultures, Max had a vision to create something that combined all the things in life that inspire him, something that all of his friends could enjoy, regardless of status or wealth. That something is called ‘Gumball 3000’.
Fuelled by a thirst to explore life, and with big ambitions, Gumball 3000 was officially incorporated in January 1999, as Max set out to invite 55 of his eclectic mixture of friends and acquaintances to participate in a 6-day 3000 mile adventure around Europe. The concept was simple, but the vision was huge, laying the foundations of Max’s quest to build a unique global lifestyle brand of the future.
In April of that year, a riotous launch party kicked off the proceedings at London’s famous Bluebird ‘Land Speed Record’ Club, attended by an A-list party crowd and scene setters such as Kate Moss, Guy Ritchie, Kylie Minogue, Alexander McQueen and Johnny Knoxville, rocking the venue until the early hours. This inaugural party became the first of many that gained Gumball a reputation for putting on something spectacular; and instantly sent out the message that this was ‘no ordinary’ car event.
The following morning London entrepreneur Sir Terence Conran waved the start flag for the first ever Gumball 3000 Rally, as London came to a standstill to watch the parade of incredible vehicles head towards Paris.
Vintage, modern, custom, modified, luxury, wacky and futuristic sports cars, including McLaren F1’s, and kinds of Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lotus, Hummer and even a customised Ambulance, set off on a journey that combined endurance and entertainment in equal measures.
Sponsored by Italian fashion giants Diesel, AMG Mercedes, GQ magazine, Playboy, Tiffany’s, The Metropolitan Hotel, and German brewery Bitburger, the 3000 mile route included checkpoints and parties at Europe’s most glamorous casino’s, spectacular race circuits, the Ferrari factory, and 5-star hotels, as the drama unfolded across Europe.
After 5 adrenalin fuelled days and nights, despite tales of engines expiring and dubious navigation, all 55 vehicles safely crossed the finish line on London’s Park Lane, followed by a wrap party in the Metropolitan Hotel.
All participants received unique Gumball ‘bubble gum’ machines, and a special ‘Spirit of the Gumball’ Trophy was awarded to world boxing champion Chris Eubank and his wife for simply completing the adventure in his Peterbilt Semi-Truck that topped out at 55mph. They had arrived about 10 hours behind everyone else to most checkpoints and unfortunately didn’t manage to arrive in time to go to any of the parties!
The event immediately captured the attention of the media, gracing the pages of over 100 magazines around the world in the process. Magazine articles and television features ensued, following the wacky race antics of inaugural celebrity Gumballers Jason Priestly, Dannii Minogue, Chris Eubank, and Billy Zane amongst others.
Ten leading fashion designers including Vivienne Westwood, YMC, Ghost, Diesel and Jitrois created one off race suits for the participants, gaining coverage in Vogue magazine.
2000
The 2000 event proceeded to take things to the next level, adding sponsors Veuve Clicquot champagne, Burago toy cars, and SCi Computer Games to its increasing portfolio of sponsors, as well as signing its first major license deal with SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) to develop and release a ‘Gumball 3000’ computer game for the Sony Playstation 2 console.
Unannounced to participants, the second Gumball Rally added a huge element of ‘magical mystery tour’ to the adventure, airlifting all 86 cars (plus 4 motorbikes) and 190 participants on two of the world’s largest cargo planes from London’s Stansted to Bilbao, Spain. This ‘balls-out’ manoeuvre cemented Gumballs reputation for creating an adventure unlike any other motoring event, redefining the parameters of road rallies for the modern era.
Rapidly becoming the annual playground for the rich and famous, and showcasing the most amazing, luxury, eccentric and sports car ever built, from McLaren F1s to the Dodge Challenger with the world’s ‘loudest’ sound system; the ‘sometimes’ exaggerated stories from the road, of engines blowing up, party boats sinking, and million dollar vehicles being left on the roadside, all added fuel to the Gumball PR machine.
‘It-girl’ of the moment Tara Palmer-Tomkinson took part in a Jaguar XK8, fuelling more British tabloid exposure as she fell madly in love with another Gumballer and proceeded to marry him on the fourth day of the rally. Manchester rockers, The Happy Mondays, also took part in a Jaguar, alongside other musicians Julian Lennon, soul diva Kym Mazelle, Placebo drummer Steve Hewitt, Skunk Anansie’s Cass Lewis, and drum ‘n’ bass legend Goldie, in an Aston Martin V8; adding to Gumballs reputation as being ‘more like a rock ‘n’ roll tour than a car rally!’
2001
By 2001, television companies were fighting over the rights to feature the rally, and a deal was cut with both MTV Networks and the BBC to air the event. MTV produced a Gumball ‘Jackass’ special directed by Jeff Tremaine, following the adventures of Johnny Knoxville, Steve O and Chris ‘Party Boy’ Pontius.
Whilst the BBC sent their documentary anchorwoman Ruby Wax to experience what the fuss was all about.
Red Bull came onboard as title sponsors to launch their energy drink across Europe, along with MTV, K-Swiss shoes, and Compaq computers branding the event to gain some valuable youth audience exposure. Further license deals were signed with Winning Moves (a division of Hasbro Toys) to produce Gumball 3000 Top Trumps. (link to Top Trumps website)
Participants including world champion F1 driver Damon Hill in his Lamborghini Diablo, comedian Vic Reeves driving an AMG Mercedes, Jackass favourites Johnny Knoxville, Steve O, Chris Pontius in an 80’s Jaguar XJS, ex-Prime Ministers Grandson, DJ and Zoltar the Magnificent designer Dan MacMillan in a ‘bomb and bullet proof’ Ambassadors Mercedes, and Maximillion & Julie in an AC Cobra, set off from London’s Hyde Park Corner to St. Petersburg in Gumballs most “dangerous” route to date.
Aware of the risks of taking so many supercars to Eastern Europe Gumball called upon the services of the British Special Forces (SAS) as its ‘security’ for the rally. As cars reached Latvia rumours started filtering through the ranks of attempted “car jackings”, causing the SAS to look a little concerned. However, no need to fear though, as upon reaching Russia our British Forces were joined by their Russian counterparts, the Alpha Force, with helicopter ‘gun-ships’ flying above for added protection. No one actually did get “car jacked” – but the rumours certainly added even more tension to the already dramatic scenes.
With border crossing delays, and cars getting lost many didn’t make it to St. Petersburg until the early hours of the following day – missing the party at the Astoria Hotel, and having to continue on the route into Finland in order to catch the boat across to Sweden. The party in Copenhagen brought exhausted Gumballers back to life, as Christian Koenigsegg launched his phenomenal Supercar, the Koenigsegg CC8 during the evening.
The event crossed the finish line the following night by in England at the Sussex home of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, inside his spectacular museum of the automobiles – adding some style to the wrap party proceedings.
Both television shows achieved record-breaking audience figures; cementing Gumballs brand recognition amongst both a youth culture and mainstream demographic, catapulting www.gumball3000.com to top the Yahoo buzz and Google search engine charts.
2002
With prime time MTV coverage and new Gumball awareness in the US, Gumball decided to take it to America – with the 2002 event following the classic ‘route 66’ road trip, driving coast to coast, from sea to shining sea, New York to Los Angeles. As the brand’s reputation and awareness continued to grow, sponsorship and licensing deals increased, with new major sponsors for 2002 including DKNY, eBay, Royal Elastics, and Mattel Hot Wheels. Licensed products released that year included the SCi developed Sony Playstation 2 ‘Gumball 3000’ computer game;
The Gumball 3000 Rally Top Trumps;
A range of Hot Wheels ‘Gumball 3000’ toy cars;
New entrants included supermodels Jodie Kidd and Amy Wesson, skaters Rob Dyrdek and Josh Kalis, and a Mini Cooper full of Playmates Shanna Moakler, Daphnee Duplaix and Danelle Folta amongst others. NBC followed the action with live updates, and millions tuned in to watch Gumball drive and party coast to coast across its nation, incorporating checkpoints in Washington DC, Nashville, Elvis Presley’s Graceland, Dallas, Santa Fe, the Grand Canyon, and Las Vegas before crossing the finish line on Hollywood Boulevard, giving America a first hand taste of the Gumball lifestyle!
Hugh Hefner presented the awards with Maximillion for the first time at the legendary Playboy Mansion; with the ‘Elvis Presley’ Style award going to the 1960 ‘Stars & Stripes’ Corvette of James Loutit; and the ‘Spirit of the Gumball’ Trophy awarded to the team that started off from New York in a beautiful 1959 Ferrari California Spider, but ended up in a rented Ferrari 355 Spider, after also buying a an AC Cobra in Dallas when the 59’ Spiders engine expired. Sadly the AC Cobra only made it to Vegas!
Gumball appeared on the cover of the Financial Times (FT), and with brand awareness growing, Gumball 3000 Licensing and Gumball 3000 Films were incorporated, to handle the increasing opportunities within the media and entertainment sector.
2003
With several key sponsors all based in the US, the 2003 route was also mapped out to go coast to coast, but this time from the West to East, driving 3000 miles from San Francisco to Miami over 6 days. The hilarious and talented ‘Cuban Brothers’ participated for the first time, bringing an ‘element’ of colour to the proceedings!
“Gumball is an extraordinary event, nothing else exists like it in the world. Let’s touch!” MTV’S ‘The Cuban Brothers’ (2003)
The rally kicked off in San Francisco in front of thousands of fans, as Mayor Willy Brown led a parade through the streets driving a Ferrari F50.
Fox Sports 54321 televised the event live from the road, hosted by BMX’er Cory Nastazio, FMX Metal Mullisha Tyler Evans, and snowboarding legends Tina Basich and Tara Dakides, as they drove a 2003 VW Eurovan customised by West Coast Choppers legend Jesse James, adding to Gumballs appeal within the action sports world.
Sponsors Royal Elastics released the ‘Gumball 3000’ edition driving boot.
Participants that year again included British supermodel Jodie Kidd, along with legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk, MX legends Carey Hart and Travis Pastrana, MTV’s The Cuban Brothers, Jackass’ Ryan Dunn, and West Coast Choppers Jesse James, together with Gumballs now regular mix of business leaders, playmates, rock stars and the establishment.
Gumball 3000 ‘The Movie’ captured the drama, action and adventures of the journey, securing theatrical and DVD distribution from Universal Pictures.
Narrated by legendary Cannonball Run actor Burt Reynolds, and with a soundtrack that includes the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Razorlight, U.N.K.L.E. and Fat Boy Slim, Gumball 3000 ‘The Movie’ premiered at London’s Odeon Leicester Square, to huge critical acclaim.
Following the UK release, the US Premiere took place in January 2004 on Hollywood Boulevard at the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to further rapturous applause.
Appearances followed on NBC’s Jay Leno Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live continued to add to Gumball’s mainstream popularity, taking the event from being considered ‘underground’ to being a reputable addition to ‘popular culture’.
2004
In the following months Gumball started to get more and more invitations from ministries of tourism and culture all over the world asking to bring the event to their countries. Seduced by celebrity culture, Gumball’s powerful clientele, and the global appeal of the motor car, a unique and progressive relationship with authorities established unique relationships with Governments. Encouraging Gumball to explore more political boundaries, and to incorporate developing countries into future routes, the 2004 route was set following an invitation from the King of Morocco to bring the event to North Africa.
In 2004, Miami based watch-makers Technomarine became official timekeepers of the rally and released a limited edition diamond Gumball watch to celebrate the relationship;
And the hugely successful Gumball ‘Supercars’ edition of Top Trumps was featured on the cover of over 15 million Weetabix breakfast cereal boxes around the world in a 6 month promotion with The Simpson’s and Lord of the Rings.
Other partners that year included EA Games, Sony Playstation, and DC Shoes. The 2004 rally began in Paris and headed south to cut a path through North Africa before culminating back in the south of France at the famous Cannes Film Festival. Oscar winning actor Adrien Brody aptly participated as a unique way to get to the festival, and Gumball was featured in Vanity Fair magazine with an 18 page article.
MTV Asia filmed the rally, focusing on Asian film and music stars Jay Chou and Edison Chen, together with the Jackass inspired ‘Aiya’ boys driving a rented Winnebago that proceeded to get ‘customised’ each day the rally went on.
Award winning music video director, Ruben Fleischer, collaborated with Gumball 3000 Films to make a documentary called ‘6 Days in May’. The film followed the relationships and dramas of several participants, notably including DC skater Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard co-driver Big Black that later gave rise to MTV commissioning the Rob & Big Show.
2005
‘6 Days in May’ premiered in London on the evening prior to the start of the 2005 rally, with a wild after party that included Gumballers Kym Mazelle, The Cuban Brothers and Jamiroquai perform live.
Skate footwear brand DC Shoes stepped up their commitment to become a title sponsor of the rally, and released a Gumball 3000 signature shoe to celebrate the relationship, entering 3 custom designed Subaru WRX rally cars into the event.
Other new partners came onboard including 888, Von Zipper sunglasses and Meguiar’s car wax.
The 2005 event decided to incorporate both Serbia and Croatia into the schedule that started in London and finished 6 days later at the Monaco Grand Prix. This initiative to incorporate the Balkans led to increased social relations between the two countries (their war having ended only 10 years prior), with Croatia announcing Gumball as a ‘public holiday’ and issuing a postage stamp in commemoration.
2005 saw further developments in the brands cultural and environmental responsibility, as the event undoubtedly reached a tipping point of awareness across Europe, attracting phenomenal crowds throughout the entire 3000 mile route to cheer on the cars. This year also saw actress Daryl Hannah and snowboarding legend Tina Basich step up the environment game by completing the rally using only 100% bio-diesel in their pink camouflaged Range Rover.
Interestingly, at the time neither media nor the general public seemed to care about or have any environmental awareness; however, these first steps towards highlighting the need for green vehicles undoubtedly contributed to today’s global public consciousness. The rally has thus become a ‘cool’ platform for automotive manufacturers to showcase their environmentally friendly vehicles of the future.
The finish in Monte Carlo was nothing short of spectacular, after crossing the finish line in Casino Square, Gumballers then headed onto the Gumball Yacht to party the weekend away.
2006
In 2006, with a desire to explore more of the globe, an invitation from the Thai Government to bring the rally to Thailand to promote tourism following the disastrous Tsunami, gave rise to Gumball embarking upon its most ambitious route to date, starting in London and finishing 8 days later in Los Angeles. The drive included 3 stages, from London to Belgrade, followed by stage two from Phuket to Bangkok, culminating in the US with the final stage from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. New sponsors for the event included GPS navigation from Co-Pilot Live, Intel, Van Shoes, Hard Rock Hotels and Iceland Air. CNN and Sky News came on the rally to report daily from the road.
This route required military precision to manoeuvre the 120 cars between Continents on the worlds 3 largest Antonov cargo planes, and to manage even bigger crowds. Authorities in Belgrade, Serbia, confirm that over 1 million people turned up to the checkpoint in Belgrade to see the cars arrive, a turnout equivalent to New York’s Times Square on New Years Eve – it was absolutely ridiculous!
“Thousands of people were lining the streets in anticipation of our arrival” Tony Hawk, Skateboard Legend (2006)
Upon reaching Las Vegas Snoop Dogg performed live at a Gumball concert in the famous ‘Joint’ venue inside the Hard Hock Hotel;
And after closing the famous Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills for the finish, Hugh Hefner then hosted the awards party for the second time, presenting with Maximillion and Ron Jeremy at the legendary Playboy Mansion.
Maximillion made his directorial debut that year with ‘3000 Miles’, released by Revolver Pictures, following the journey of action sports and Jackass stars Tony Hawk, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Mike Vallely, and Rooftop Escamilla on the 8 day adventure
2007
Having contributed to Serb and Croatian relations, and promoted tourism to a post Tsunami Thailand, in 2007 Gumball was recognised by the United Nations for its ability to unite people through its unique entertainment, and praised for incorporating and making a positive impact in under developed and post war countries. That year, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) of Albania invited Gumball to incorporate Kosovo and Tirana into the route to promote peace and friendship in the Balkans Peninsula, and so a route was set that started in London, and headed all the way to Turkey and back, driving through 13 countries in just 7 days, with the additional use of the cargo planes once again.
2007 set off on a high, with Gumball 3000 Licensing signing a deal with global footwear brand adidas Originals to release a Gumball 3000 series of driving shoes, and other major brands came on board including T-Mobile, HTC Mobile and Ray Ban sunglasses.
The event set off in glorious style, closing 2 kilometres of central London from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park Corner, attracting over 250,000 people to watch the cars depart, en route to Germany.
Notable new entrants included British gangster actors Danny Dyer and Tamer Hassan (The Business & The Football Factory), to host a Gumball TV series for Channel 4;
Along with MTV’s Pimp My Ride host Xzibit;
And Jamiroquai front man Jay Kay putting pedal to the metal.
Academy nominated director Mike Figgis also participated, using the event as the backbone to his latest art-house feature, ‘Love Live Long’.
During the fourth day of the event, Gumball hit its lowest point when the rally suffered its first serious road accident, when a local car in Macedonia collided with a Gumball participant, taking the life of the elderly Macedonian driver. The event was then cancelled out of respect to those involved. The incident was not caused by dangerous driving, but rather due to combination of terrible weather, appalling road conditions, and an unfortunate lack of road safety standards in that country. Following this tragedy Gumball has taken giant steps forward to work even more closely and actively with the Governments, authorities and transport police of all countries that the event travels through on a mission to promote road safety. The accident had occurred on terrible road conditions, in a country that has little road safety awareness or general safety standards that western developed countries are used to. The realisation that road accidents happen every day around the world due to insufficient safety standards, safety awareness and poor road conditions alerted Gumball to use its positioning as a voice of youth and car culture to become an active promoter of ‘Safer Roads’ for the United Nations World Health Organisation (W.H.O.).
With a global network of participants that reads like a who’s who of Hollywood and the Fortune 500, counting academy winner Adrien Brody, Johnny Knoxville, Damon Hill, Jenson Button, Travis Barker, Hugh Hefner, Daryl Hannah, Snoop Dogg, Jamiroquai, Jesse James, Xzibit, Goldie, Chris Eubank, Jason Priestly, Jodie Kidd, Danny Dyer and action sports legends Tony Hawk, Carey Hart, Travis Pastrana and Matt Hoffman as Gumball alumni to name but a few; it is our aim to use these relationships, together with our existing and future media partners to proactively campaign for road safety, especially amongst a youth audience.
2008
In 2008 Gumball are aiming to take our unique form of entertainment to history making levels by incorporating the United States, North Korea and China into the Tenth Anniversary event. As well as being granted the first ever permission to incorporate North Korea into a globally televised western event, we are also working towards hosting the first ever ‘rock concert’ in its capital city Pyongyang, together with the support of the United Nations to promote ‘Peace and Friendship’ within the Korean Peninsular and the rest of the world; proving our commitment and passion to create positive change and to unite people through our high profile ground breaking and creative pursuits.
Taking over from adidas Originals, their global footwear rivals Puma step in and sign a two-year deal to be one of the rally’s new sponsors, with plans to release a Gumball 3000 series of shoes in the future.
The Gumball 3000 Films Mike Figgis’ feature film ‘Love Live Long’ is premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York followed by Cannes in the French Riviera;
And Gumball 3000 Licensing releases its latest Top Trumps ‘Custom Cars’ card game.
The tenth Anniversary tour is scheduled to take place between August 9-16th, starting in San Francisco, culminating 8 days later at the Beijing Olympics. 150 celebrity and high profile entrants (from approx 30 nationalities) are taking part, including David Hasslehof in the legendary Knight Rider car (K.I.T.T.), and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger driving a bio-diesel Hummer, amongst musicians, actors, designers, artists, and business leaders.
After driving and partying from San Francisco to Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas in the United States, all participants will be flown to Pyongyang – in the first ever passenger flight from the US to North Korea, to attend the Arirang Festival, followed by the Gumball 3000 Peace Concert.
The following morning participants will be flown on to Hangzhou, China, where their cars will be waiting, and the rally then continues over 3 days via Shanghai and Xuzhou, to cross the finish line in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, during the Olympics on Saturday August 16th.
The event will be televised each day worldwide on MTV Networks and CNN, with CNN’s anchorman Anderson Cooper reporting live updates throughout
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