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The brand, for which the slogan "Don't forget the fruit gums mum was coined, is targeting adults in a £2 million relaunch through Lowe.

The new campaign is an acknowledgement that adults now account for about half of the product's consumers and marks the end of the "Search for the Rowntree advertising aimed at children.

The advertising, for Fruit Pastilles and the new Fruit Rush, uses black humour. In one commercial, a father offers his student son a Fruit Pastille, insisting that it will guarantee he passes his medical exams. The boy's mood lifts and it seems his ambitions have been realised when he's seen a few years later wearing a white coat - as he serves in a fish and chip shop.

In another, a woman comforts a friend whose husband has left her with debts. Told that the sweet will guarantee the return of her man, the abandoned wife answers the door to find the bailiffs have come to repossess her fridge.

The ads were written by Tony Barry, art directed by Damon Collins and shot by Tommy Kuntz and Mike Maguire through MJZ. Media planning and buying is through MindShare.

Matt Edwards, the Lowe board account director on the business, said: "The brand was in too much of a niche and the new work will make adults reappraise it. We're not abandoning advertising to children. It's even possible we can use the new creative idea in a more friendly way that kids will enjoy."