This campaign billed as 'world's biggest' user-generated digital outdoor effort sends messages of love

As advertisers continue to eschew outdoor campaigns during quarantine time, a new global outdoor initiative from the U.K.'s Grand Visual and Talon Outdoor is utilizing the unused billboard space across the world for a user-generated campaign.

"Sending Love" allows people anywhere in the world to upload photos and messages featuring a heart-shaped hand signal at a website, Sendinglove.to, and specify which city they would like them displayed in. Participants are invited to donated to the global COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund before receiving a photo of their picture playing on-screen in their chosen city to share on social media.

While other campaigns have used outdoor media to send message of thanks during the pandemic, notably the Ad Council's effort to thank key workers, this is the first initiative with global reach and geo-targeting. It is also claimed to be the biggest-ever user-generated digital outdoor campaign. 

“We set out with one thing in mind, to provide people with the opportunity to send love to their favorite places around the world,” said Dan Dawson, chief creative officer at Grand Visual, in a statement. “With an internationally understood heart shaped hand signal at the center of the creative we could share the love in cities the world over despite the constraints of lockdown, with shareable content further extending the message via social channels.”