The Royal Canadian Legion Coordinates Country Wide Advertising Blackout

The Royal Canadian Legion is embarking on a new initiative this Remembrance Day (November 11th), inviting digital advertisers to honour the two minutes of silence held between 11:00 and 11:02 each year, by not displaying any advertisements during this time.

The ambitious project will see digital advertising inventory across the country display a unified message featuring the enduring Remembrance Day motto 'Lest We Forget' along with a remembrance poppy. The stylised letters depict the date and time when people stop to remember on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

The act of darkening advertising billboards and screens is a gesture of respect for the 117,000 Canadian soldiers who fought and fell in service of our country. Based on the half-billion dollar billboard market in Canada, the estimated cost of darkening these billboards for two minutes is $191,400.

“The act of taking two minutes of silence to remember Canada’s fallen is sacred,” says Nujma Bond, national spokesperson for The Royal Canadian Legion. “This innovative blackout campaign is a bold reminder of the importance of this act, no matter where you are at 11am on Remembrance Day, and we invite other organisations to take part.”

The average person is exposed to up to 10,000 messages a day, but for two minutes, thousands of digital billboards across the country will go black and Canadians will be prompted to remember.

The blackout program is being coordinated by media vendors and brands who choose to take part in the initiatives and is coordinated through WPP’s GroupM media buying and planning division with creative by Wunderman Thompson Canada.

"This is a provocative strategy and one that truly shows how impactful media can be in building awareness of an important message,” says Kevin Johnson, CEO at GroupM Canada. “We know the power of delivering the right message at the right time, in the right place to Canadians, but also the importance of taking a break as a sign of respect.”