Brands go back in time for Gladiator II

To tie-in with the release of Gladiator II, London’s world-famous Piccadilly Lights sent brands “back to 211 AD”.

On Friday, November 8th, Picadilly Lights imitated a ‘frieze’, a Greek piece of architecture most well-known for adorning columns and sitting below rooflines with sets of detailed carvings.

The stunt was created by Wavemaker and Paramount Pictures along with DOOH.com, Ocean Outdoor, Mindshare, Publicis One, OLA, and Cheil.

Featured on the multi-brand advertisement is Samsung, which is advertising its new Neo QLED television with the tagline “colossally entertaining”, as well as TKMaxx or ‘TKMaxximus’.

The screen also shows artwork of a chariot rider alongside the tag line: “Great Journeys start with Trainline” and a 3D depiction of someone building a LEGO model of The Colosseum with the line: “Finally something you can build in a day”.

John Fletcher, UK managing director at Paramount Pictures, says: “This year’s most spectacular movie deserves a campaign equal in stature. Piccadilly Lights is truly iconic and we’re delighted to have been able to collaborate with so many brands and agencies on this ambitious project. We’re thrilled with the outcome and it is a testament to the hard work of so many parties to make this happen.”

Becky Power, creative director, DOOH.com, adds: “Iconic movies like Gladiator II don’t come along very often and we’re delighted that our work can be a part of its story. It’s been such a great experience working alongside the brands which embraced the idea of taking their ads back to 211, with the talented artists who have beautifully ‘sculpted’ Piccadilly Lights from stone, and with Paramount and Wavemaker who have been generous collaborators from beginning to end.”

Gladiator II, which is a sequel to the multi-award winning 2000 film, Gladiator, stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Derek Jacobi, and Connie Nielsen, who reprises her role from the first film.