BIOGRAPHY
Name: Maximillion Cooper
Nationality: British
DOB: 7th June 1972
Status: Married with 3 children
Maximillion Cooper was born in 1972 in Stone, Staffordshire. His Dad is a drummer and abstract painter.
Teenage years were spent skateboarding, riding freestyle BMX, going to punk gigs and winning countless trophies playing football and table tennis. At 17, randomly spotted by a talent scout, Max was signed by the Elite Premier model agency, and subsequently appeared in advertising campaigns for Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Levis. This lucrative pastime undoubtedly gave Max a taste for a glamorous lifestyle, regularly travelling the world and appearing in magazine photo shoots and catwalk shows with some of the world’s most beautiful women; whilst simultaneously funding the first steps of his childhood ambition to become a racing driver.
Despite the perks, Max had no desire to pursue modelling as a full time career, and after completing A-Levels and gaining a place at the prestigious St. Martins College of Art he decided to study a Bachelors degree in design and journalism. Time at St. Martins was spent juggling studies with modelling and a fledgling racing driving career, while becoming a regular on London’s party scene, and hanging out with the usual bunch of rock stars and supermodels. His friends from St. Martins also include some of today’s fashion aristocracy, with Alexander McQueen, Luella, Giles Deacon and Stella McCartney all contemporaries whom have undoubtedly helped influence his creative pursuits within the world of design. During his time at St. Martins Max began film making, and designed menswear for Vivienne Westwood and Joseph, and regularly contributing editorially to GQ, Dazed & Confused, and I-D magazines whilst continuing to model for numerous brands.
Following St. Martins and a reluctance to join the real world, Max embarked upon studying another undergraduate degree, this time in Law at Sussex University, still allowing the freedom to simultaneously continue racing and earn modelling dollars. Amidst studying Law, Max travelled the world with the F1 season, often racing in the support events, and getting more involved in the business side of the sport, raising sponsorship money for F1 teams, and forging close friendships and acquaintance with several F1 drivers, team owners and leading sponsors.
In the final year of his Law degree Max made an audacious bid to buy the struggling Tyrrell F1 team with an ambition to create the most glamorous and rock ‘n’ roll racing team ever, in an attempt to shake up the sports ‘corporate’ image. Despite raising enormous capital through investors excited by this vision, his offer to buy the team was overtaken by tobacco giants British American Tobacco (BAT), that race today as the BAR Honda Team.
Undeterred and determined to make an impact in the sport, fuelled with an entrepreneurial spirit and desire to challenge conventions, Max brought together his eclectic network of friends to participate in a 6 days drive and party around Europe. The success of this party, called 'Gumball 3000' achieved the desired effect, with an instant cult following from skateboarders to billionaires, capturing the attention of the media around the world; Vogue magazine called the event ‘The most glamorous rally ever’, whilst car bible 'Autosport' said ‘It was more like a rock ‘n’ roll tour than a rally!’ and Thrasher skateboard magazine said “You cannot rage harder than Gumball, its awesome!”
Almost a decade later and the 'Gumball 3000' Rally has cemented itself as an annual fixture in both the sporting and social calendars, appealing to both mass consumer and an underground audience, is featured on everything from MTV to CNN, and regularly graces the pages of Vanity Fair to Maxim. By producing a different 3000 mile adventure each year, each one more ground breaking and unconventional than the last, Gumball 3000 has rapidly crossed the threshold from aspiration to attainment, rated by advertising agency giants WPP as one of the world’s fastest-growing, recognized lifestyle brands in the world in 2006.
Insistent that the brand remains true to its original concept and style, and representative of ‘popular and immerging cultures’, Max, along with his beautiful Danish wife, Julie Brangstrup, (he proposed whilst they drove an AC Cobra to St. Petersburg) are building the ‘Gumball 3000’ Group into becoming a major commercial powerhouse. In 2002 Julie subsequently became his business partner and Vice President of the Gumball 3000 Group, managing all business affairs, allowing Max the freedom to focus on more creative aspects of the brand development, including designing clothes, directing films, and playing the role of a British diplomat on his extensive global travels.
Max and Julie now have 3 children and live in London within a stones throw of the Virgin Group Headquarters, so watch out Mr. Branson, there’s a new Brit in town.
TRIVIA
*Max’s dad ironically has never driven a car, choosing bicycles and motorbikes as his only modes of transport.
* Max competed against Matt Hoffman in BMX freestyle competitions in the Under 13 age group!
* Max won the British Under 19 Table Tennis tournament whilst studying his A-Levels.
*The first band Max saw was The Clash
* Max still uses his skateboard to get to work
* Max supports Chelsea FC
Q & As
Maximillion gets countless interview requests during the course of the year and while we do our best to accommodate all of them there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. The below Q & As are some of the most popular ones, that will give you an insight into Max as well as the brand.
When, how and why did you start Gumball?
By the age of 25, I 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; so a regular career was not likely to ensue. Realising these assets, and with a unique ability to transcend cultures, I had a vision to create something that combined all the things in life that inspire me, something that all of my friends could enjoy, regardless of their status or wealth. That something was called ‘Gumball 3000’.
Fuelled by a thirst to explore life, and with big ambitions, Gumball 3000 Limited was officially incorporated in January 1999, and I set out to invite 55 of my 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 my quest to build a unique global lifestyle brand of the future.
Did you think it would become the global brand that it is today?
Of course I hoped it would. I had a vision to create a lifestyle brand that combined all of my inspirations and interests, although to me that vision is still in its infancy. Infact it feels more like I’ve been digging the foundations for past 10 years, and am about ready to start building. In years to come I hope to see the ‘Gumball 3000’ brand successfully develop and apply its name to multiple industries, in a similar way to how Virgin has done over the past 38 years, and to become a true globally recognized brand and Fortune 500 company.
Why is it called ‘Gumball 3000’?
It’s called Gumball 3000 for a few reasons; but mainly because the word “Gumball” sounds non corporate and not at all serious, but more fun and throwaway. The reference to bubblegum also refers to throwaway “bubblegum culture” – chew it up and then spit it out – the same as “pop” culture, and I wanted to create “pop culture.” A bubblegum “gumball” can also roll from a to b just like our cars do on the rally; exactly the same reason as why the word “cannonball” became used to describe driving from a to b, as in the Cannonball Run. The 3000 part of the name is also for a couple of reasons; 3000 miles is obviously the amount of miles we drive in each Gumball Rally, however, I chose this length as it seems to be a magical number in professional racing terms, as after driving non stop for 24-hours in the Le Mans endurance race cars cover approximately 3000 miles. The other reasons for 3000 were in reference to and as a note of respect to the artist Futura 2000, as I’m a huge fan of his work, not to mention the connotations of being in the future, and I’m always looking at that!
By using ‘Gumball 3000’ together it makes a name that isn’t specific to anything, this making it adaptable to clothes, films, music, events, or whatever we do.
What’s your favorite rally so far, and why?
The 2001 rally was off the scale!
What’s your favorite car?
1970 Porsche 917
Do you come from a wealthy family?
Yeah, they’re all billionaires, they just print the stuff (joke), no actually I can honestly say that my family has no money whatsoever. However, they have a great quality of life, living in a beautiful part of England. I’ve worked 16 hour days for the past decade to make Gumball work. Nothing comes easy in this life.
Is Maximillion your real name?
Yes it is. Its not made up, despite what people sometimes think, its just down to having eccentric parents!
Do you ever take off your sunglasses?
Never
What is qualities do you look for in Gumball employees?
An ability to do their job professionally is what matters, but I don’t like lateness, untidiness, or apathy. I look for and award dedication, ambition and loyalty.
What’s your biggest achievement to date?
Being a dad.
BIOGRAPHY
Name: Julie Brangstrup
Nationality: Danish
Born: May 23rd 1978
Status: Married
Julie Brangstrup is the Vice President of the Gumball 3000 Group. Married to Gumball founder, Maximillion Cooper, Julie is not only the savvy businesswoman behind the Gumball brand, but is also a mother of three (soon to be four), and a member of London’s social elite, counting Jodie Kidd, Jasmine Guinness, Cynthia Conran and Martine McCutcheon amongst her close friends.
After graduating from London’s Regents Business School in 1998, the Denmark native began her business career at Morgan Stanley with Private Clients. In 2000, Julie met Maximillion and five months later he proposed to her during a Gumball 3000 stop in St. Petersburg, Russia. The duo went on to organize the next rally in 2001, and in 2002 Julie took 50 percent ownership of the company and helped Max grow Gumball into the global brand it now is.
Julie is currently the day-to-day driving force behind Gumball, often jet-setting around the globe, carefully mapping out Gumball’s next route and meeting with CEOs of the world’s top corporations. Julie has been able to leverage many of her personal relationships for the brand, encouraging many a celebrity to try their hand in the Gumball 3000 rally. In addition to her work with Gumball, Julie sets aside time to work with her favourite charities, Eve Appeal and the Make a Wish Foundation.
TRIVIA
* Julie skied for the Danish Downhill Junior Team
* Julie beat F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya in a mini MX race at the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours in 2004
* Julie runs 5 kilometers every morning
This Press Section should be able to facilitate most media requests, however if you have specific enquiries please contact us directly.
Press Office
Gumball House
303-315 Latimer Road
London
W10 6RA
Great Britain
T: 00 44 (0) 208 964 7878
press@gumball3000.com
For US Media Enquiries contact:
PMK-HBH
Los Angeles
CA
California
USA
T: +1 212 373 6135
PMK-HBH
New York
NY
USA
Adam Feigen
adam.feigen@pmkhbh.com
Judee Cohen
judee.cohen@pmkhbh.com
Lauren Buchman
lauren.buchman@pmkhbh.com
