Jolly Rancher: Overcoming the 'Waiting Room Candy' Stigma
Championing the little treat that started it all.
THE ASK
Revive Jolly Rancher’s sales by connecting with a new audience.
THE PROBLEM
In a world chockfull of fun and interesting candy, Jolly Rancher doesn’t stick out.
THE INSIGHT
The graveyard for all candy is the waiting room bowl.
THE SOLUTION
Position Jolly Rancher as the Back-To-School candy so that it owns a candy calendar event.
Methodology
Here's everything we did to find our sweet spot.
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Consumer Interviews
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We sat on a stoop passing out Jolly Ranchers on Halloween and conducted 10 interviews with people about why the Blue Raspberry flavor is the best.
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Survey
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We got 101 responses from candy enthusiasts to help us understand why they were and weren’t eating Jolly Ranchers.
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Market Conditions
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We dissected how the non-chocolate confectionary category is doing, as well as current consumer sentiments on snacking.
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Social Listening
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We lurked on Reddit for hours, from r/Teachers to r/Triathlon, and combed through tons of candy TikTok shops.
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If childhood had a taste, it would taste like the Blue Raspberry Jolly Rancher.
It was what we grew up eating, in between a balanced diet of pizza dippers and Kraft Mac & Cheese, in the place we spent the majority of our time as kids: school.
And as kids, there were little things more effective in captivating our attention than candy - which more often than not, happened to be Jolly Ranchers.
They are,
a treat for motivation.
“A Jolly Rancher is great for rewarding bravery at the start of the year. When I ask students to share work for class workshops or volunteer to give answers or work at the board I give out a Jolly Rancher.”
-Reddit, r/Teachers
a conversation starter.
“I used to trade them with my friends when I was younger. Blue Raspberry is the best”
-A survey respondent
a quick fix to stave off the hunger.
“As a kid, I ate them a lot because I always raised my hand when my teacher asked a question. It’s ironic now because I’m a teacher and I eat them sometimes between classes when I don’t have a lot of time for a full meal.”
-A teacher we interviewed on Halloween
But we stopped eating them.
We graduated onto better treats, driven by our own personal tastes. Iced Matchas, a puff of a cheeky cigarette, late night DoorDash orders.
But that doesn’t mean we’ve given up on candy. In fact, we can’t get enough of a sweet treat.
Source: Non-Chocolate Confections - US - 2024
We just aren’t choosing Jolly Ranchers. Not when we’re eating candy corn during Halloween, or candy canes on Christmas, or heart shaped chocolates on Valentine’s.
Source: State of Treating 2025
Our candy calendar is booked, and Jolly Rancher hasn’t made the cut.
Which means that Jolly Rancher has been relegated to the candy graveyard: the waiting room.
People may be eating Jolly Ranchers, but never on purpose.
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Over 50% of our survey respondents said the most recent place they got Jolly Ranchers was from a bowl.
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And only 16% of our respondents chose Jolly Rancher as their #1 candy.
Meaning, that people don’t dislike Jolly Ranchers, they just don’t actively seek them out.
So how do we get people to start choosing Jolly Rancher?
By taking it back to where it all started. Instead of competing with chocolate in the Halloween Chaos, Jolly Rancher can show up where no other candy does: the start of the school year.
The solution:
Create a candy calendar event for Jolly Rancher by positioning it as the Back-To-School candy.
See the brief here:
