The 40 best billboards of 2025

The first in our round-ups of the best brand campaigns of 2025.

In the era of AI and CGI marketing – billboards have quietly become the scene-stealers of 2025.

From clever contextual placements to jaw-dropping builds, out-of-home is a rich environment for brands chasing genuine cultural impact.

This roundup pulls together the most talked-about billboards of the year — the ones that stopped traffic, lit up social feeds and showed why OOH is having a real renaissance

Here’s a selection of widely shared hits (in no particular order) – as featured in the weekly Famous Five newsletter and on our LinkedIn page.

#1 Canva: Can you make the logo bigger?

Canva and Stink Studios turned the area around Waterloo Station into a playground for marketing truths. The excellent series leans into client/agency creative tension and laughs at the chaos of feedback loops with a knowing smile.

#2 Audi won Wimbledon with this billboard

Spotted at all stations to Wimbledon. Audi dropped a clean and clever campaign that’s got tennis fans and design nerds applauding. By BBH London.

#3 The Guardian tackles media censorship in the U.S

The Guardian doubled down on its US footprint with its first major stateside campaign. On a billboard installed in New York, the publication invites passersby to “remove the censorship” stickers to reveal its message. By Lucky Generals.

#4 Nike hits stride with Chicago Marathon

OOH done right. The brand deployed a series of punchy, hyper-relatable OOH placements across the city, serving up motivational mantras tailor-made for runners hitting that wall (and Instagram). Check out the series.

#5 Joe Marler lounges in ‘living billboard’

Traitors star Joe Marler kicked off a Black Friday campaign for travel brand loveholidays inside a billboard. The OOH stunt by ARK tapped into winter blues and landed viral attention.

#6 KitKat won big by calling out screen addiction

VML Czechia’s “Phone Break” took the Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes. The creative? Ridiculously simple: swap phones for KitKat bars in familiar public settings — like waiting for a bus or standing in line. See the campaign here.

#7 TD Bank finds creative loophole to feature world’s biggest brands

TD Bank found a highly creative loophole to feature some of the world’s biggest brands in ads. “Own a piece of it” promotes an offer to buy fractional shares (a small piece of a big brand). Creative photography of cutaway sections for street billboards promoting stock investment reveal logos for the likes of Nike, Coca Cola and Apple. See the series here.

#8 Polaroid’s outdoor takeover takes aim at phone fatigue

Polaroid’s latest outdoor campaign is a celebration of analogue living and takes aim at AI and phone fatigue. The campaign features billboards and fly-posted Polaroids that urge us to look up from our devices and step into the real world.

#9 Kellogg’s celebrates the ‘OG’ with creative art direction

Kellogg’s mascot, Cornelius the Cockerel, continued his comeback in style on posters as the “OG” with a clever design that plays off the cropped Kellogg’s logo. By Leo Burnett UK.

#10 Uber lands at London Gatwick

An array of clever, populist and cheeky OOH from Uber (and Mother) landed at London Gatwick informing passengers “you’re almost there”.

#13 Tesco flips the posters for pancake day

Tesco and BBH flipped the poster design to highlight the key ingredients needed for households to get involved.

#14 Waitrose puts sizzle on the streets with kebab billboards

A series of builds feature a super-sized skewer threaded through 3D food items, alongside the headline: “Anything is a kebab if you put a skewer through it!” By Wonderhood Studios.

#15 Oatly turn legal restriction into a creative advantage.

When you can’t say ice cream, say it louder.

#16 Alzheimer’s campaign ‘buffers’ to show heartbreak of memory loss

What if the loading icon wasn’t just annoying—but heartbreaking? That’s the premise behind the Alzheimer’s Foundation’s latest campaign in Sweden, developed by agency Kid, where buffering faces become a haunting stand-in for memory loss. See the videos here.

#19 ‘The Studio’ poster highlights creative differences

How do you promote a TV show that’s all about juggling corporate demands with creative ambitions? A Hollywood billboard for Apple TVs ‘The Studio’ reads ‘This is what happens when the creatives and executives can’t agree on a billboard idea.’

#20 Virgin Atlantic unveils bold OOH campaign at Piccadilly Lights

Virgin Atlantic launched a striking new out-of-home campaign as part of its ongoing Be A Rainbow platform. The hero image features a woman dressed in the airline’s signature red, diving into swirling, cloudlike waves her body forming the shape of a plane, complete with the iconic Virgin tail fin. By Lucky Generals with media support from PHD UK

#21 Heinz drop logo – zones in on perfect food pairings.

How many brands are brave enough to go out with no logo on the ad? ‘It has to be…’ is from Heinz (and Wieden + Kennedy that does just that – while zoning in on perfect food pairings. The familiar outline of the iconic Heinz ‘frame’ is there – but makes way for fries, toast, bread and pasta.

#22 Burnable Billboards’ reveal risks of sun exposure in real time at locations across the UK.

The campaign uses live UV data to reveal realistic sunburn and blistering effects as UV exposure increases throughout the day. By Wonderhood Studios.

#23 The Simpsons lend star power to greyhound appeal

The Simpsons have backed NZ’s biggest-ever dog adoption drive, with the famous greyhound (Santa’s Little Helper) fronting a national campaign to boost adoption before racing ends in the country next year.

#24 Stella Artois celebrates the joy of getting served

Stella Artois raised a glass to the chaos of nights out and the joy of getting served with its latest campaign, Claustrobars. Created with Grey London and shot by world-renowned photographer Ale Burset, the out-of-home series captures the all-too-familiar bar scene: elbows flying, queues stretching, and the relentless hustle for a drink.

#25 Decathlon zooms in on sport

Instead of focusing on dramatic action shots or elite athletes, the brand zeroed in on the overlooked details like the curve of a ball or the stitching on a sneaker. See the series here.

#26 Ikea unveil seagull poop posters for Brighton store launch

IKEA tapped into Brighton’s seagull situation with a series of out-of-home ads that are impossible to miss — or clean. By Mother London.

#27 This Times Square campaign is an anti-ad flex

New York’s Times Square is where brands go to flex. Flashing lights, mega-budgets, CGI spectacles — but AI assistant startup Cluely just went the other way.

#28 Lime reacts to London Tube strikes

During this Summer’s London Tube strikes, Lime trips jumped 50% at peak hours. In response, Lime rolled out “Good Service on All Limes,” a playful campaign riffing on London’s iconic Underground signage to position itself as the city’s reliable commuter alternative.

#29 KFC Canada knocks out the Colonel’s teeth for hockey season

KFC Canada gave the Colonel a classic ‘hockey player smile’ ahead of the new season embedding itself into Canada’s favourite pastime.

#30 More girls should get into fights

To mark its 30th anniversary, YES Charity teamed up with Iris to launch “The Good Fight” — a striking new campaign that reframes boxing as a tool for empowerment rather than aggression. Kids appear post-training, bruised but defiant, beneath the deliberately provocative lines: “More girls should get into fights.”

#32 NYX demonstrates the staying power of  Face Glue

The show-stopping Westfield activation saw drag star Ella Vaday suspended from the billboard to demonstrate the brand’s ultimate hold.

#33 Teddy Tint takes over London

Maybelline New York turned heads in London with a show-stopping OOH activation for Teddy Tint. Delivered by St Marks Studios, the dual-panel billboard featured Teddy “breaking free” to blur out a generic beauty ad – showcasing the brand’s signature soft-focus tint.

#34 Toxic Town billboards react to UK pollution

Billboards for the Netflix drama Toxic Town usied real time data to show what air quality is like across the country. If the air quality is “good” you will see a full poster for the series. If the air quality is “poor”, billboards will be covered in a cloud of fumes.

#35 World’s heaviest billboard drops in Dubai

GymNation, the UAE-based fitness chain, unveiled the world’s heaviest permanent billboard: a one-tonne installation built entirely from forty interlocked weight plates.

#36 Scratch and sniff armpit posters – by Billie

Bodycare brand Billie launched a new poster campaign in New York City, featuring a “scratch and sniff” installation near Penn Station. The activation highlights their All Day Deodorant and invites passersby to decide for themselves by sniffing armpits.

#37 South Western Railway pushes back against staff abuse

South Western Railway took a firm stance against the abuse of its staff with a campaign that puts body-worn cameras at the centre of its message: “Body cam footage is evidence. It pays to be kind.” Developed by St Luke’s, the series uses stark visuals to get its point across.

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