Here Be Dragons' Greggs stunt immortalises the brand’s iconic British status

Here Be Dragons has married two very British institutions, prolific high street bakery Greggs and wax-based entertainment destination Madame Tussauds. And we’re here for it.

Wax sculptures go way back to ancient Egypt, where the substance was used to create effigies and death masks. By the Middle Ages, European artisans refined wax modelling for religious icons in churches.

It’s oddly fitting, then, that the modern-day religion of celebrity has been enshrined in Madame Tussauds, a must-see attraction on a little corner of the world’s cultural capital, London.

Greggs, meanwhile, has a shorter lineage. Although founded in 1951, it wasn’t until 2013 that its unrelenting high street dominance began. The shift is credited to CEO Roger Whiteside’s realisation that the “food-on-the-go” model was pivotal. Recognising that 80% of its business comes from this market, Greggs pivoted from traditional bakery goods to focus on takeaway items like sausage rolls, sandwiches, and coffee, competing with chains like Pret A Manger and McDonald’s.

By 2025, Greggs operated 2,638 shops, with a long-term goal of over 4,500 locations. The brand’s national importance was further underlined when its vegan options, including the popular vegan sausage roll, caused a media frenzy.

Here Be Dragons sculpts a memorable campaign

Some campaigns are unexpected, but seem inevitable once they land. Madame Tussauds London’s wax replica of a Greggs sausage roll is one such example, marking the first time a food item has been honoured as a standalone exhibit at the world-famous wax museum.

Launched in time for National Sausage Roll Day on June 5, the campaign, devised and delivered by creative agency Here Be Dragons, places the iconic pastry in the museum’s ‘Culture Capital Zone’ alongside British luminaries like Sir David Attenborough, Stormzy, and William Shakespeare.

The stunt celebrates the Greggs sausage roll’s status as a cultural icon, with the bakery chain selling over 1 million rolls daily across its 2,600 UK shops.

A flaky tribute

The campaign, titled a ‘true celebration of a national favorite’ by Greggs CEO Roisin Currie, elevates the humble sausage roll to A-list status. Displayed on a regal blue velvet cushion with yellow trim, echoing Greggs’ signature branding, the waxwork sits atop a classic plinth, complete with a commemorative plaque noting that 365 million sausage rolls, each with 96 layers of flaky pastry, are sold annually.

The plaque also highlights Greggs’ founding in 1951 and the roll’s “legendary golden glisten,” cementing its place in Britain’s culinary heritage.

The stunt has already sparked buzz, with a survey of 2,000 Britons conducted by Madame Tussauds and Greggs revealing that 46% consider the sausage roll a bona fide British icon, outranking cultural figures like Charli XCX, Louis Theroux, and even EastEnders’ Ian Beale.

Celebrity endorsements from Taylor Swift, who requested Greggs rolls for her UK Eras Tour, and Kiefer Sutherland, who praised them on national TV, further underscore the pastry’s star power.

Here Be Dragons’ creative coup

The campaign was masterminded by Here Be Dragons, a creative agency who recently uncovered the Pastrycore trend on this site (Deep diving into the ‘Pastrycore’ trend | Creative Moment), worked closely with Madame Tussauds’ studio team to craft a campaign that blends humour with reverence for British traditions.

The agency’s strategy included a multi-platform rollout, with social media teasers, a TikTok video showcasing the waxwork’s creation, and OOH placements across London.

The wax replica was crafted with meticulous detail, using the same traditional plaster molding method as Madame Tussauds’ human figures. Artists studied dozens of Greggs.