• by Fern Siegel , January 18, 2023

Bartle Bogle Hegarty found a novel way to promote the new all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz and fight the winter blues.

The agency launched a giant SAD billboard to highlight the five-seater carrier and cargo van for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

The seasonal affective disorder OOH work carries a simple message — Recharge Here — and is lighting up London’s Waterloo train station.

The vehicle will arrive in North America in 2024 and will carry a starting price of $45,000.

SAD lamps aid those with winter’s Seasonal Affective Disorder – a type of depression that occurs with reduced levels of daylight. Positioned at Sutton Walk bridge, commuters and passers-by can literally recharge in front of the billboard, which is powered by 100% renewable electric energy from Green Voltage UK. 

The campaign's push is to associate the vehicle with positive energy, as it’s the company’s first fully electric van.  

The billboard employs lots of smaller SAD lamps and is designed to mimic sunlight. The installation was devised by BBH and created in collaboration with engineers and designers at The Glue Society. 

“We all miss the sun at this time of year. But by turning a billboard into the world’s largest SAD lamp, we wanted to give passers-by the next best thing. Just like the ID. Buzz itself, with its iconic design and Californian heritage, it’s like a little ray of (electric) sunshine,” said Stuart Royall, creative director at Bartle Bogle Hegarty.