The advertising industry is playing a major role in Britain’s VE (Victory in Europe) Day commemorations this week – including large format out of home screens across the UK and the Piccadilly Lights – as the nation enters four days of shared celebration.
Created by M&C Saatchi Group UK and Ocean Outdoor, working with the DCMS and The Together Coalition, the campaign culminates in a major display on May 8 marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Piccadilly Circus was one of the gathering points after Churchill announced the Allied victory in Europe at 3pm on May 8 1945, with a crowd of 50,000 congregating in the surrounding streets to celebrate.
In a tribute to veterans and the wartime generation, at that exact time Piccadilly Lights will be taken over.
In a film produced by M&C Saatchi Group UK, the audience is taken back to 1945, allowing them to experience the VE Day celebrations as if they were happening today.
Interwoven with archive footage donated by the Imperial War Museum, it depicts a young soldier from the World War II in modern-day Piccadilly, amazed at the world around him. As the celebrations build to a crescendo, the soldier looks across and stops in his tracks. He sees a 100-year-old veteran, perhaps his older self, facing him in Piccadilly Circus. The two acknowledge one another with a salute.
The film ends with the line: “We’re here because they were there. The Spirit Lives On”.
The young soldier is played by Harri J Douglas and the veteran is Mervyn Kersh, aged 100, a British Army soldier who participated in the Normandy landings, later witnessing the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The director is Matt Timmiss.
The screen space was given by Landsec and the film will play out for 10 minutes.
To build awareness in the run-up to VE Day, static posters across 39 roadside and city formats in 13 cities, encouraged communities and neighbourhoods to join the Great British Food Festival over the Bank Holiday weekend, with street parties, barbeques and community get togethers of their own.
Also developed by M&C Saatchi Group UK, the artwork drew on vintage 1940s posters, incorporating a modern day QR code with the unifying message, “Let’s Celebrate Together”.
Today (May 6), the BFI IMAX, Piccadilly Lights, Battersea Power Station and other Ocean screens join prominent historic landmarks across the land lighting up in red, white and blue as night descends. The moment will be led by the Tower of London just after 9pm. OOH artwork was created by Ocean and the DCMS.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “80 years ago Piccadilly Circus hosted thousands celebrating the end of the Second World War. I’m pleased that, as part of our commemorations this year, we can recreate this moment on the big screen and ensure the stories of that greatest generation are passed on to the young people of today.”
M&C Saatchi Group UK client lead Nick Yarker added: “Recreating VE Day in Piccadilly Circus for the 80th anniversary is – literally – a once in a lifetime opportunity. So many people have donated their time and talent to create this moment, which brings past and present face-to-face, celebrates our veterans and reminds us all that their spirit lives on. We’re proud to have created work that resonates with audiences young and old, making an important historical event feel relevant and powerful today.”
Related stories
M&C Saatchi appoints new group chief strategy officer
Gemma Knox lands group MD role after return to M&C
M&C Saatchi drafts in former C4 chief as group CEO
M&C Saatchi raids WPP for CEO as revamp continues
Finance regulator brings back M&C Saatchi for ad brief
