Ocean pauses advertising across its DOOH estate on Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day, drawing to a close 11 months of work marking the 80^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Commercials on the Piccadilly Lights are paused for 10 minutes on both 9^th and 11^th November, the space given over to the Royal British Legion. Content will also be shown across Ocean’s wider OOH estate in eight cities during the two minute silence.

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A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said: “The Royal British Legion is proud to be marking Remembrance honouring the service and sacrifice of our brave Armed Forces, past and present. The iconic Piccadilly Lights recognising the Two Minute Silence will allow people a moment to pause and reflect as the nation comes together to remember those who gave so much for the freedom that we enjoy today.”

Ocean’s 2025 commemorative programme opened with Holocaust Memorial Day on 27^th January and Light The Darkness, a national reflection on the 80^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Supported by Landsec, the DOOH work, which carried the message ‘for a better future’, was created by St Luke’s for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

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On VE80 Day (8^th May), Ocean, M+C Saatchi Group UK, the DCMS, Landsec and the Together Coalition turned London’s Piccadilly Circus back in time to 1945 with a tribute to veterans and the wartime generation led by D-Day hero Mervyn Kersh who participated in the Normandy landings, later witnessing the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The director was Matt Timmiss.

The 10 minute film was watched by 100-year-old Mr Kersh, hundreds of cadets, members of the armed forces, government officials and members of the public just hours before a televised VE80 concert in nearby Horse Guards Parade.

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To build awareness in the run-up to the country’s four day VE80 celebrations, billboards across 39 roadside and city formats in 13 cities encouraged communities and neighbourhoods to join the Great British Food Festival on 5th May with street parties, barbecues and get togethers. Developed by M+C Saatchi Group UK and the Together Coalition, the artwork drew on vintage 1940s posters with the unifying message, Let’s Celebrate Together.

The following day, the BFI IMAX, Piccadilly Lights, Battersea Power Station and other Ocean screens joined the Tower of London and other historic landmarks across the land lighting up in red, white and blue. The OOH artwork was created by Ocean and the DCMS.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on 6^th August, IWM (Imperial War Museums), Ocean and Landsec presented I Saw the World End, a digital public artwork by the artist Es Devlin and her long-term studio colleague Machiko Weston. The film was screened on Piccadilly Lights in London.

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And at 12.30pm on 15^th August, the DOOH landmark marked the 80^thanniversary of VJ Day, the very end of the Second World War, with a commemorative piece inspired by the DCMS and IWM’s Letters to Loved Ones campaign, featuring the words and writing of those who served in the Far East. The film was produced by the DCMS.

Another highlight of IWM’s programme was a contemporary short film exploring the events and significance of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific.

Produced in partnership with student and graduate film makers from SODA (School of Digital Arts), part of Manchester Metropolitan University, ‘August 1945: It Was Over Then’ featured sound, photographs and film from IWM’s collections.

Its premiere at IWM North on VJ Day was supported by screenings on 12 large format Ocean screens including Manchester Printworks, Bradford Media Wall, Liverpool Media Wall, and with full audio on both Four Dials, Westfield Stratford City and Eat Street Westfield London. 

Ocean Outdoor chief commercial officer Nick Shaw said: “Working with a number of partners, collaborators and talent, this year we have been able to connect outdoor audiences to extraordinary people and extraordinary events, and, most importantly, used our channel to connect us to each other.”