Dulux jelly bean campaign returns with a chance to win $10K - Food Files

Sep 24, 2025

It’s bean too long.

Dulux is as synonymous with jelly beans as it is with goofy old English sheepdogs. Oh, and paint, of course. So it’s a sweet surprise to learn that the Australian paint brand is bringing back its famous jelly bean campaign. For those who aren’t familiar, if you buy eight litres of paint or more, you get a giant paint can filled with jelly beans. And there are also big prizes to be won.

The campaign first launched more than 30 years ago, with free jelly beans and golden tickets hidden in jelly bean cans in each state that saw people win a Mazda 121, because it was shaped like a bean.

This time around, Dulux is holding Australia’s largest virtual jelly bean guessing competition, giving participants the chance to win a $10,000 Golden Bean. To enter, head to the Dulux website and take a guess at how many beans are in the virtual jelly bean can.

To mark the campaign’s return, Dulux also commissioned research to find out which jelly bean flavour is Australia’s favourite. And we have to say that the results are disturbing.

According to the research, licorice is the most popular flavour, with almost 20 percent of all respondents naming it as their favourite. This was followed by the far more credible raspberry, with 15 percent of the vote. But further dismay is to be found at third place, with vanilla racking up 11 percent of the vote.

Where did it all go so wrong? We could do what we’ve always done, and blame the Baby Boomers. The research found that 35 percent of Boomers loved licorice, while only six percent of Gen Z liked it. In fact, Gen Z were the most likely to name licorice as their least favourite flavour, and I’m suddenly developing a new-found respect for them.

As for vanilla? That’s Millennials for you. Sixteen percent of them named vanilla and pineapple as their favourite jelly bean flavours. Which is a good example of what can happen when someone has been living in their parents’ basement for too long.

Speaking of getting old, Dulux has also found that four in five Australians remember the original jelly bean campaign, and more than half instantly associate jelly beans with Dulux.

“It’s become a feel-good moment that people remember from their childhood – when choosing a paint colour came with a handful of jelly beans,” says Dulux marketing director Richard Hansen. “We’re thrilled to bring that fun back in a modern way.”

Entries for the guessing competition close on Saturday, October 18. Dulux jelly beans will be available in participating stores until Sunday, October 19.