Campaigns halt as people mourn death of Diana

The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, has prompted many

advertisers to drastically scale down their advertising commitments.

Many advertisers in the car, alcohol, newspaper, insurance and

photographic sectors are pulling their TV advertising until after

Saturday’s funeral.

Mercedes, makers of the car in which the princess was travelling, has

pulled its new brand building campaign indefinitely.

Some advertisers, such as Virgin, have pulled ads across the board.

Meanwhile, a number of other particularly ’sensitive’ advertisers have

opted for a low profile. Advertisers with French-themed advertising,

such as Eurostar, have also pulled off air. Orange has withdrawn because

of its ’Future is Bright’ line.

Neither Channel 4 nor Sky is showing any ad breaks during news coverage

until next Monday. ITV’s News at Ten looks likely to follow suit, at

least until the weekend.

There will be no ads on ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 until Saturday

afternoon.

Elsewhere, the major retailers said they would not open their stores

until 2pm on Saturday.

This article was first published on Marketing