Once upon a Time at Piccadilly Circus, or about Advertising in London from many Years Ago...
London advertising agency FullScreem recreated Piccadilly Circus from half a century ago in the form of an interesting animation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWml6G7w6fM
An amazing animation created using photographs from 50 years ago shows what Piccadilly Circus looked like on a May evening in 1961. Using photos found in archives and based on old weather reports, a short film was prepared showing the Statue of Eros, the large Coca-Cola neon sign installed in 1954, a Players cigarette advertisement, and a BP billboard from 1961. Martini, Dunlop, and Scotch.
But these are other brands that we see in this charming animation.
Fifty years ago there were significantly more advertisements than today. The entire London Pavilion Theatre building was covered with advertisements. Billboards stretched further – into Shaftesbury Avenue.
There were also more smaller advertisements, while currently large LED screens dominate this location.
The animation prepared by FullScreem encourages us to go back in time even further and see Piccadilly as it was seen by passersby in the 50s, 40s, 30s...
And here is the result of my research – photos of this place illustrate how much outdoor advertising has changed over the last decades:
Year 2014 – currently advertisements are placed only on the facades of buildings between Shaftesbury Avenue and Glasshouse Street, these are large LED screens...
The 60s – at this time neon signs ruled Piccadilly...
The 50s – in 1954 the large Coca-Cola neon sign appears...
The 40s – in some photos you can see that the Statue of Eros was protected from damage during the war...
The 30s – the Guinness beer clock appears on Piccadilly...
Year 1915 – advertisements appeared on Piccadilly Circus at the beginning of the 20th century,
the first neon sign was Bovril – an advertisement for a soup seasoning brand...
