Boots invaded five fake brands across an 88-metre tube platform

Demonstrate the vast range of beauty brands available at Boots by literally making more room for beauty — this time across an entire Northern Line platform at one of London's busiest stations.

Five fake brands' ads fill an 88-metre tube platform; Boots beauty products then spill out of the hero ad and invade every one of them.

The biggest ad Boots had ever run: 88 metres — ten London buses, or three and a half blue whales — covering a whole platform with a fake advertising ecosystem. Boots products spectacularly spill out of the hero ad into the neighbouring fake brands, which react in entertaining ways: reaching for products, running away, getting pushed aside.

An 88-metre canvas for 100,000+ daily commuters on one of London's busiest lines, with layered humour built for repeat engagement; the write-up reported no other performance figures.

In October 2025, Boots took over an entire Northern Line platform at Tottenham Court Road with its biggest ever ad: 88 metres long — ten London buses, or three and a half blue whales. The takeover by VML (The Pharm) built on 2024's 'Make more room for Beauty' campaign.

Rather than just going big, Boots created five completely fake brands — theatre productions, museums, sports networks, travel companies and takeaway apps — and filled the platform with their fake ads. True to the 'make more room' proposition, Boots' beauty products then spectacularly spill out of the hero ad and invade the neighbouring brands, which react in entertaining ways: reaching for products, running away from them, getting pushed aside.

Executive creative director Juliana Paracencio said the unexpected takeover was the perfect way to demonstrate the vast range of beauty brands available at Boots — 'we even got away with playfully interfering in other ads'. At 88 metres it is impossible to miss, and the layered humour gives it repeat engagement value for the 100,000+ daily commuters on one of London's busiest lines. Where last year's products spilled outside the billboard, this year they spill into an entire fake advertising ecosystem.

The fake brands are the demonstration: a beauty range so extensive it cannot be contained by its own ad, or anyone else's.

Commuters pass the same platform daily, so the invading-products gag is built to be discovered again on every ride.

Scale does the media buy's job — an 88-metre takeover at a flagship station becomes its own press story.

To show range, stage scarcity for everyone else: invent a whole shelf of brands your product can overflow onto, and the abundance tells itself.

As of the October 2025 write-up the platform takeover was live at Tottenham Court Road, extending the 'Make More Room For Beauty' platform into a second year.